Crystal: Hey everyone! Sorry for the wait… --whispers-- I had my final exams like on Monday and Tuesday so I didn't really had a chance to update until now. Even though the chappy is late…I have good news for all of you! Since it's summer vacation and all…that would mean no more school…no more school means I can go to the computer 24/7 (I can only go during the weekends if there's school)…24/7 of computer means…FREQUENT UPDATES! –grins like a maniac— I can update twice as much as I used to! Hurrah! Anyway, enough chitchat…here's the responses!
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Kodoku Wolf: Lol, don't worry! What will happen to Kai and Rei will make you feel all tingly inside… --winks—
BloodMistress: Here's the next chapter!
Saber-kon: Lol, I hate Mariah too! –mutters— That little bitch… Ya know what? I don't even why I put her in here…I think I was on something when I did.
Raku Ozzarian princess: oOh…I like your weapon! Hehe…Nail gun… lol! Perfect stuff for Mariah hunting…
Forfirith-on-a-sugar-high: Lol, no worries, Forfirith! There's going to be MORE Mariah bashing!
Devlinn Reiko-sama: Glad you like the bashings! Here's the next chapter!
Cat in the Web: Lol, don't worry…she might get what she deserves…
Devilburns: Here's the next chapter!
Enelya Aldarion: Hmm…you know…I don't know who's going to take the next plunge. –sweat drops-- Maybe Max and Tyson…or probably our favourite couple, Kai and Rei? I don't know…
Platinum Rei: Glad you like the chapter! –smiles cheerfully— Here's the next chapter!
Keri Hiwatari: I can't believe I put her in the story too… --shakes head—
TigerRain a.k.a Tara: Hey Cuz! Who won the small competition? Lol, was it you? Or Tala?
Ren: Lol, you can help anytime with the hunt!
Dead yet a love sick puppy: You are so right…she really needs to stop obsessing over Rei and get a life…
Lokisash: Glad you like the Tala/Bryan moment!
Prozacfairy: Lol, don't worry, Kai won't let anything happen to Rei! Especially when it involves a pink, hairy blob.
Rooney-and-Atreyu: Here's the next chapter!
Silver Kitsune: Lol, it's ok, you don't have to apologize! –smiles cheerfully— Here's the next chapter!
Wolf whirl: Umm…sorry it took so long for me to update! Hope you like this chapter!
Crazy nek0-JIN: Hehe…glad you like the Tala/Bryan moment! Man…you could NOT believe how much a squealed while I was writing that… Anyway, lol, your chainsaw is cool!
Mood Bind: Here's the next chapter!
The tigris: Lol, I did have fun hunting! –smiles cheerfully—
Koneko no Rei: Glad you like the Tala/Bryan moment! And yes…our little Kai's getting into his overprotective mode. Lol!
Tariki Rania: I'm also glad you like the Tala/Bryan moment!
Shayde Amelia Phoenix: --whispers— Kill the pink witch after the fic is over. As much as I hate to admit it, she's still a part of the wedding… --cringes at the thought—
Kai-cutie-angel: Sorry for the late update! Lol, anyway…yeah…I had to use the pink harpy 'cuz…I need to bash her…she just pissed me off for some freakin' reason…
SoulSister: Yes…Mariah better watch her back…or else she might even be get beaten up…
Lady AA-chan: Hehe…me? Get 300 reviews? I doubt that… --smiles cheerfully-- Anyway, yeah…love is in the air! Lol, and I don't mind if you put it in your favourites! –whispers— It's actually an honour, 'cuz you're like a great author and your stories are so good, and yeah… --sweat drops— Hope you like this chapter!
Sweet Tigress: Lol, yes…I can very much tell that you really hate her guts. Kai could probably do it…but…he would commit murder…and that would be a very bad thing.
Songs make me cry: Lol, glad you like the Tala/Bryan moment! One problem though…I don't know which pairings should I do next…
Xplicit-Bee.dot: Yeah…I guess you're right about that…though I can't believe it that "she" would help them get closer…
Emiz: Lol, here's the next chapter!
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Crystal: There we go! Now as a reward…Donuts for everyone! Now, here's the chapter!
Special Thanks to – StarryNightObsession aka Mae: Thanks for BETA-ing, Mae! I really, really, REALLY appreciate it! And don't say you didn't do a lot because, you DID DO A LOT and I thank you for it! –smiles cheerfully-- Hmm…I should give you something…oOh, I know! Some yummy Strawberry Tarts! –gives a whole box and looks around-- Make sure you don't let Tyson get a whiff of the scent…I banned him from getting some Strawberry Tarts after he ate the 2 whole boxes I bought. –eye twitches— Oh, and have you finished with the thing? Is it…s-s-si-m-ila-r? –fearful look in her eyes— My fingers are still crossed to hope that it isn't…
Disclaimer: I DON'T OWN BEYBLADE! I NEVER CAN AND I NEVER WILL! –mutters-- I wish I did though…then I would have paired my favourite pairings in there…
Breathe – Chapter 14: Writing the Wedding Vows
Kai walked side by side with Rei on the other part of the castle. He couldn't help but stare at the beautiful neko-jin right beside him, also he couldn't help but think that why did they hate each other in the first place? His crimson eyes stared at the horizon; the clouds and the sky are now the colour of dark orange blended in with a colour of the sky making it a very dark purplish colour. He still couldn't help but ponder how or why was this raven-haired beauty was always in his mind nowadays. It seems like every time he closes his eyes, all he could see through the darkness was Rei's cheerful smile and the optimistic look through his eyes; Kai sighed inwardly, he would do anything just to run his calloused hand through out those soft, and silky strands…
"Kai?" His crimson eyes looked over to the golden ones, and saw curiosity and a little bit of hurt in them. Seeing the hurt look, Kai couldn't help but be guilty and concerned at the neko-jin. "Hey, what's wrong?" he asked while Rei just turned his head back, watching back to where he was walking.
"Oh…well, you weren't answering…and—and I thought you were ignoring me, but…anyway that doesn't matter," Rei rambled on and on, while the nose of his bridge was blushing little by little in embarrassment.
Kai smiled and thought that Rei's cute when he's embarrassed. He apologized for his rudeness, making Rei look at him in shock. Kai noticed this and smirked. "What? What's wrong with me saying "Sorry"?"
Rei looked away again, still blushing now more than ever. Man, thank god Bryan isn't here, he thought. Or else he wouldn't hear the end of it! "Well, I've never really heard you say sorry before, so it's kind of new to me…"
"Hn, that's alright, everyone would usually just gawk at me like what fishes would do when they hear me saying sorry." Kai shrugged, while looking at Rei's smile with his crimson eyes. The older boy couldn't help but smile while the neko-jin was smiling at the same time. 'He must have had that effect on people,' he thought.
"Oh, I see," Rei replied, silence taking over them once again. "Hey, what was your question?" Kai suddenly remembered, making Rei look at him again.
"Well, my question was…ummm…" Rei was out of words. You see, his question was if Kai still regrets being betrothed to him. The only time that Rei had the guts to ask that question was a few minutes ago, since Kai looks like he was deep in thought, like he always does.
"I'm still waiting," Kai said playfully, making Rei stick his tongue out at the slate-haired boy. "Wait, I'm still trying to put this in a good sentence," replied the younger boy.
Rei thought for a few minutes and sighed. 'Ok, just take a deep breath, Rei Kon. If he just looks at you weirdly after you ask the question, just run away as far as you can,' he thought and took a deep breath. Just about he was going to say the sentence, a pink flash zoomed by, and glomped him making Rei tumbled onto the ground.
"OH Rei! THERE YOU ARE! I WAS LOOKING FOR YOU EVERYWHERE! WHY DIDN'T YOU TELL ME YOU WOULD BE WANDERING OFF ALONE IN THE WILD?! DIDN'T YOU KNOW THAT THERE COULD BE HOMICIDAL MANIACS HERE, WANDERING, AND LOOKING FOR VICTIMS TO KILL!?" Oh dear, it seems like Mariah has found Rei—it looks like she didn't notice Kai, or maybe she ignored him, or maybe she's blind—and now she's rubbing her icky pink hair onto Rei's arm, like a cat that needs a life.
Kai growled. Her again?! Geez, doesn't this girl ever give up on Rei?! He pushed the "girl" away and pulled his fiancé up, patting his back since Rei was coughing like hell after all that hard hugs that his cousin gave him. Mariah coughed and snarled; she noticed that her Rei's fiancé is here!
"Oh, you're here too," she muttered while standing up and dusting off her dress and straightening her freakishly pink hair. "I thought you're in the dungeons, punishing those poor defenceless serfs just because you couldn't have your way with them." Mariah gave haughty look at Kai, making Kai more pissed off.
"Oh wow, like I would love to do that but sadly, no I don't. Since I know that you do that to your own servants and probably you do that 3 times a day." After Kai had said that, Mariah's golden eyes turned into slits while Rei covered his mouth using his fist to keep on laughing, though he started to cough, trying to cover his laugh.
Mariah, being an oblivious, idiotic person that she is, got concerned really quickly and hugged Rei again, this time though, she was being gentle, and so she couldn't hurt her cousin any longer. "Oh you poor, thing! It's your entire fault, Hiwatari! You made Rei-Rei, choke!" With that Mariah dragged Rei by the arm and walked back inside the castle. Rei gave Kai an apologetic look and smile while being dragged away by his obsessed cousin.
Kai watched at the figure until it disappeared inside the castle. He turned around and kept on walking, kicking at the small pebbles to take all the anger off. He was so mad that he never even noticed two people following him; until they tackled him into the ground, face first. So now Kai's poor face was dragged all the way into the ground, while the two people who tackled him were smirking like there's no tomorrow.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk… I thought the great Hiwatari Kai is always on his guard?" It seems that the two people who pushed him was none other than Tala and Bryan. Kai growled, and pushed through the ground to help himself stand up. Just as he was about to stand up, Tala and Bryan pushed him down again to the ground.
"Tala, Bryan what the hell is going on?! Let go off me and stop pushing me into the freaking ground!" Kai snarled, still being weighed down into the ground.
Tala gave a chuckle, "Because, Master Hiwatari, you did something very wrong today."
Kai gave a pissed off grunt. "What is it now?!" Bryan looked at his boyfriend. "Should we tell him, Tala?"
"Yes, I think we should." With that both Tala and Bryan let go of Kai and stood over him, with those smirks still plastered over their faces. Kai sat up, and rubbed his face, still glaring at the two people standing in front of him.
"Now would you mind telling me what the hell did I do wrong?!"
Tala took a huge deep breath, "Well…Bry and I were walking here and saw that you let that pink bitch take your fiancé away from you! HOW COULD YOU, KAI?! I THOUGHT YOU LOVE Rei?!" Kai couldn't help but gawk at Tala weirdly. Who knew that he could be so overdramatic like that? Bryan sweat dropped and gave Tala a hug, which the other boy graciously accepted.
What did the other two forget, is that Kai was still with them, and after they hugged—which seemed like for a very long time—both boys saw Kai smirking with his infamous: "I'm way better than you" or "Hah! You wish to tell me something I forget?" smirk.
"Did I miss something here?" he drawled, while Tala and Bryan just flushed a lovely bright shade of red. Kai's smirk widened and stood up, brushing the dust off from his clothes. "Well, actually, you're the first one to find out, so you should feel special!" Tala practically shook Kai but luckily Bryan refrained him from doing so. Oh dear…it looks like somebody found Max's sugar stash…
"Well, I'm happy for you two, finally there's someone to stop Tala from being an overdramatic freak," Bryan gave a laugh while Tala just glared at the two. "Whatever, anyway, I think the adults need us…or preferably they need you and Rei. So come on, Mr. Groom, you need to go in that castle, NOW!" With that, Tala grabbed Kai and Bryan's ears and dragged them inside the castle.
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"There you three are!" Dizzi cried, while slapping the three boys' head one by one. "Where the hell have you people been?! You're late, don't you realize that?!"
By the time Kai, Tala and Bryan came inside the study—that's where the meeting was being held—everybody was already there. Also, the first thing Kai saw when he entered, was that the pink leech was sucking the life out of Rei, meaning that Mariah was clutching Rei's right arm so tight that it was turning blue. Poor Rei, he can't even feel the blood flowing down by his arm anymore! Anyway, when Kai had seen that, his eyes started to turn see red, and before he could even march there and untangled the pink tentacles away from his fiancé, someone had grabbed the collar of his shirt and was thrown at the seat in front of him.
Poor Tala, Bryan and Kai…it seems that Dizzi had been waiting for them for at least an hour now and you know how impatient Dizzi is…she'll start seeing red—like our dear Kai of course, after all they are childhood friends, right? —And maybe even some smoke coming from the outside of her ears.
"Err…Diz, maybe they've gotten the message now…after all, the adults might come any minute…" Rei ignored that by the fact that he can't feel his right arm and instead, gave his concern for his three friends, who are now in trouble with Dizzi.
"Oh Rei…you really are truly nice. Although let Tokugawa have some fun…after all, they do deserve it for being so late and all…unlike you! You're always punctual…" Mariah disgustingly cooed, making Rei smile painfully, and the others just looked at her like she grew another head…but then again, that would be pure terror too.
Tala glared at her annoyingly pink guts. "Hah, for you're information, we were late because we're planning to…to ma—" The icy-blue eyed boy was cut off, by the sound of footsteps from outside the door of the study hall and kept his mouth shut, since he realized that it was the adults who was making all those footsteps and just took a seat beside Bryan.
Before Tala could take a seat, the adults came in Lord Voltaire leading them one by one. Mariah, being the suck-up that she is, stood up and gave her aunt and uncle a kiss cheek to cheek and a hug then went back to torturing Rei's right arm. Fortunately, Lady Leila motioned Rei to stand up and take a seat right next to Kai, who by the way was getting pissed off by the second; it's quite obvious really, in a one to ten scale, his glare was down to a 10, 10 being the highest and 1 being the lowest.
When Rei had took a seat right beside the enraged boy, Kai suddenly calmed down a whole lot. Everybody noticed this and smiled, well, except for Mariah who was sulking in her seat since she's not sitting beside Rei anymore. Anyway, Lord Rai cleared his throat to get attention from the people, after he had gotten the spotlight; he smiled at everyone and proceeded on the task at hand.
"Now that we're all here, let's get to work, shall we? Right…now, as we can all see here, Rei and Kai's wedding is at least 5 weeks away. We're going to start the fitting of the robes next week, and then start the rehearsals the week after that." He motioned Lord Voltaire to continue on the conversation.
"Meanwhile everything of that is going on, you and Rei," he looked over at the engaged couple. "You both will write your vows. You have 2 weeks until the rehearsals, so that should be a plenty of time for the two of you to write them."
Rei could not believe it, only 5 weeks away until the big day!! Everything went by so fast…Rei couldn't help but wonder how did Hiwatari Rei sounded like… He shook his head, and blushed inwardly. How could he think of such a thing! It was only an arranged marriage, and nothing more! Though…he did wish it was more than that…
Meanwhile, Kai was thinking of the same thing. He also could not believe that 5 weeks is left until Kon Rei would become Hiwatari Rei, and be his other half for the rest of his life. The crimson-eyed boy could not help but be happy, since he fell in love with the person he was going to marry. Although he also could not help but feel cold and alone…since it was only an arranged marriage and he was sure that Rei doesn't feel the same way…
Boy…if only they knew…
In the meantime, the others could not help but get excited. Bryan and Tala looked at each other, feeling really happy for their best friends, Dizzi almost squealed in delight but Kenny was stopping her for making a fool of her, while Tyson and Max just smiled cheerfully. Though everybody was happy at the situation, there is someone who was disappointed about it. Can you guess who the person is? Oh never mind…I'll just tell you, it's the pink harpy from hell. It looks like there's no time on getting them separated, unless…Mariah had an evil glint in her eyes.
"Umm…Aunty Leila?" she asked in a cute, suck-up voice. Lady Leila looked at her niece. "Yes, Mariah dear?" she replied.
"Well, is it ok if I help with Rei-Rei's vow?" the niece had asked. Rei looked at his mother in pure terror, there's no way in hell she would say yes…right? Seeing his fiancé with a horror look on his face, Kai gripped Rei's hand for reassurance. Rei looked at Kai and smiled. 'He can be such a sweetie sometimes…' he thought.
"Well…I think you should," Lady Leila agreed at Mariah's plea. Rei turned his head towards his mother again. Why, oh why…did she have to say yes?! Lady Leila must have heard Rei's thought since she gave him a warm smile. "It's been a long time since we've been together with Mariah again. So maybe this writing the vow thing would strengthen your bonds again as cousins, hm?" Lady Leila asked Rei.
Rei just squeaked and nodded reluctantly, meanwhile, Mariah grinned widely. Now she's heading towards the right direction! All she has to do was to delay her lovely Rei to writing his vow until the rehearsals! That way, the adults might get mad at Rei for being a tardy boy and then they might cancel the wedding! Oh, that would be perfect!
Max looked at Mariah with suspicions in his eyes. He couldn't help but think that the pink-haired freak was up to something…he looked over to where Tyson was a caught him staring, and realized that Tyson noticed something too. The cheerful blond gave a small nod, and also asked Lady Leila if they could help Rei too. Tyson and Max were happy since luck was on their side and made Lady Leila agree that they should Rei also, making Mariah glare at them with her golden, slit eyes.
"So that is settled then, the vows are going to be due by time we start on the rehearsals. Now…remember, if you two," Lady Leila pointed over to Kai and Rei. "Are having problems writing the vows, don't hesitate to ask us for help!" She finished cheerfully, and with that they all left the room, leaving the younger people there.
"C'mon, Rei-Rei! It's time to work on your vow now!" Mariah said, as she stood up from her seat and walked towards to where Kai and Rei were. "Sorry, Mariah!" Max and Tyson had pulled Rei first before Mariah had the chance to. "But, we already have an idea to what Rei's going to write!" Max said triumphantly, bouncing every now and then.
"Don't worry Kai, we'll take care of your fiancé!" Tyson had said, while laughing. Kai gave the bluenette a death glare and a hard smack on the head. "OWW…!! What was that for?!"
"For being an idiot."
"Arrgghh…whatever, come on Max, Rei, its time for vow-writing!" With that, Tyson both grabbed Rei's and Max's hand—making Max blush slightly of course—and left the study room. Mariah scoffed and left the room too, in pursuit of catching up to Max, Tyson and Rei, so she could try and get Rei away from them.
"Now…get to writing, Kai!" Dizzi had said, standing up from her seat. "You only have two weeks left! And don't you dare say that it's way to early to start!" Kai just gave her a cool look. "Why would I say that? Anyway…I don't really have a piece of parchment and quill do I?"
Dizzi sweat dropped and went over to a small cupboard, revealing rolls of blank parchments, bottled inks, and a lot of quills. She took one of each and dumped them over by the desk where Kai was writing. "There," she said. "Now…we're going to leave you here so you can have some peace and quiet ok?" She left the room without question and Kenny followed with her.
Tala and Bryan were sitting right across from Kai, watching him in an intense gaze, making the crimson-eyed boy look up and gave them a questioning look. "Well," Tala started. "You can't expect yourself to write a vow with no complications…"
"Hn, I can so."
"No, you can't!"
"I can."
"You can't!"
"Yes, I can!"
"No!"
"Yes!"
"NO!"
"YES!"
"SHUT UP!" Both Kai and Tala looked over to where Bryan was, and saw that the lilac-haired boy has a dangerous look in his eyes that look like that could kill someone right away. They stopped their childish arguing, leaned back into their chairs, and waited for further instructions from Bryan.
In the meantime, Bryan--who still was annoyed by his boyfriend and Kai's childish actions—got up from his seat and walked over by the door. "Bry? Where are you going?" asked Tala, wondering why would Bryan leave even though he, Tala himself was here. "I'm going to go and check if Rei has started writing his. Oh, and when I come back, the both of you shouldn't be acting like a couple of hooligans who just came out of a mental place." With that, Bryan left the room, leaving an intimidated Kai and Tala alone.
"Ok…Tala, your lover there, is freaky," Kai muttered darkly, while picking up the quill and started to write. Tala just kept quiet and waited for Bryan to come back.
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Tyson had dragged Max and Rei to a secluded area where only him, Kai, Tala and Dizzi only now about, so no one could bother them—Hint: something pink and scary. The area was an old ruin, probably that was made at least 500 years ago. Most of the structures have already been destroyed by erosion but there were some left, making it a pretty place to look at.
"Wow…this place looks so pretty! Where did you find this place?" asked Max while walking around the place. "Hehe…we were playing hide and seek one time, and then we just found this place. Neat, huh?" Tyson said, feeling a little smug that he made Max look really surprised and awed at the place before him.
Rei went over to the one of the fallen rocks from one of the buildings. He dusted off a part of it, and sat down, hauling his legs up so that he could sit cross-legged. "Ok…err…do you mind if we start now?" he asked while Tyson was still showing Max around the place.
"Sure, Rei!" Max cheered and pulled Tyson with him, going over to where Rei was sitting. "Now…let's see…what to write…" the cheerful blond trailed off with his eyebrows burrowing in deep thought. Rei looked up into the sky, while pondering what he could write. After all he only has 2 weeks until the rehearsal starts…
"Rei?" asked Tyson, making the neko-jin look at him. "Yeah?" answered Rei, while his eyes were full of confusion in them.
"Well…can I ask you something…personal?" Rei hesitated for a little bit, but nodded his head right away. When he saw Rei's nod, Tyson took a deep breath and blurted out his question.
"Do you love Kai?" Rei was stunned at the question. Did he love Kai? He wasn't even sure himself. Although deep inside he feels happy when Kai's near, he also feels all tingly inside when either Kai held him by the waist or when he holds his hands… After so much ponderings, Rei realized that he loves Kai. "Rei…?" asked Max, while looking at his friend with a slightest curiosity to mankind.
Rei looked at the pair and smile softly. "Yes…I…I love him," he replied, while a small blush was tainting his soft cheeks. Max and Tyson cheered and started to jump for joy. Tyson was so happy that he hugged Max real tight, making the other boy shocked and surprised, but nonetheless Max also hugged back, feeling secured in Tyson's arms.
"Well, now that answer's my question, here's my idea: Why won't you confess your love for Kai in that vow?" suggested Tyson, who was still holding Max. Rei grinned at him. "You know…I always wonder why I thought of you as the jester." Tyson gave a laugh until he realized that Rei had given him a small diss.
"HEY!"
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Crystal: YEAH! Rei loves Kai! –grins widely—
Rei: --blushes—
Crystal: --pokes— Come on…don't be all shy now… --smirks— Hehe…anyway, hope you guys like that chapter! Review, ok? Ja ne, minna-san! –waves happily--