Hello everyone! The last cliff hanger was a bit mean of me, wasn't it? Ah well, here it is now.To my reviewers: (not in any particular order)

Angel25302: Thanks for reviewing and reading the story! By the way...you know the numbers after your author name? The 25302. Does it mean anything? Lol

To the anonymous reviewer: I updated! Soon enough, I hope? Next time maybe you can leave your name or something that I can refer to you by when I reply to reviews...thx a bunch for reading!

Mizu-Tenshi: There will be quite a bit of flashbacks in the chapters following this one..soon after he meets Kesumi or/and someone else....there's a clue for you! There are none in this chapter...I don't think. *Peers down at the chapter*

Silver Angel: I know, poor Kesumi! Even I think so, and I was the one who wrote it! *Laughs* Anyways, thanks for reviewing, I appreciate it!

Alva: I updated, I updated! Lol, thx for reading!

Chapter 6: Familiar Stranger

Kesumi drew in a sharp breath, stumbling awkwardly back. "K-Kai." She shivered, feeling inexplicably unsure - yet so completely sure. This was her brother, she was positive! Wasn't he?

He looked liked him - sure he changed quite a bit, time can do that to you. But he was different. The way his eyes were glinting, and the way his face was contorted with anger. It wasn't like Kai to act like this. Sure her brother hadn't been all perky, he was rather subdued and mature for his age. Under Boris, he and Tala had had to grow up fast, and they did.

But this wasn't Kai.

There was no way he could act this....mean. AND there was no way he couldn't remember his own sister, it was impossible! She puffed with sudden anxiety, "It's me, Kesumi. What's wrong with you?"

The next few words from his mouth had cut through her like a knife, something that told her that this definitely wasn't her brother she had known.

He had never done anything to hurt her; he had been her mother, father and an older brother after their parents had passed away. This had been the first.

"I don't know who Kesumi is, and I definitely don't know who you are. I don't freaking care, got it? So stop wasting my time, and get lost!"

His words were unbelievable, and they stung; they really, really hurt.

~*~*~*

Tenchi leaned into her chair, a book propped open on her knee. She stared down at the pages with scrutiny, a mask of concentration knitting the spaces in between her brows. But she hadn't read a single word - not really. If reading one sentence for 50 times over and over again counted as reading, she probably could've gotten a lot of it done by now.

Reading and writing had always come naturally for her; words seem to belong to her, as if a deep part of her. Like one special part of her brain was reserved for it. But today, they seemed to only offer an irritating pang of annoyance.

Staring up at the clock, she realized with an indignant surprise that she had remained in that sitting position for nearly two hours. She hated wasting time - especially on useless brooding.

"Tenchi, you in there?"

"Come in."

"Hey Tench, thought you could use our company."

The Demolition boys filed in, claiming chairs and cushions to lie on as they walked inside. "How come you get to have the largest room?" Ian blinked, scanning her hotel suite with curious interest.

"Because, I'm special." She reached forward to flip her book to the next page, unaware of the fact that she hadn't finished the one before.

"What are you reading?" Spencer asked, "It looks boring."

Tenchi looked up and shrugged nonchalantly, "I have no idea."

Sighing, she tossed the book resignedly to Tala, who caught it with a disgruntled expression. "Shakespeare? How disturbing."

Her brother was leaning casually against the bed - which he occupied on his own, after having thrown everyone else off the side of the mattress - his chin gently atop of one of his outstretched palms.

"I happen to like Shakespeare," Tenchi replied, casting an exasperated eye on him, "He's an inspirational author."

Tala gave her a long look before flipping to a random page. Peering at the words, he wrinkled his nose, "Thou? Thy? What kind of English is this?"

She rolled her eyes, "Hey, take your foot off my pillow!"

He smiled sweetly, one of her pillows clamped down under his left foot, while his other one was left dangling off the side. Without replying, he lifted the other foot and placed it in parallel with the one on the pillow, watching her expression scrunch up with distaste.

His sister liked keeping things clean, and this was just one of those habits of his that grated at her nerves to no end.

By the look on her face, he knew that he was headed into deep water, but he studiously ignored the alarms ringing dangerously in his head. She seemed to need cheering up, and since he wasn't any good at comforting, he could at least get her to release her pent up frustrations on him.

Both feet resting comfortably on Tenchi's pillow, Tala cupped his head between his interlaced hands and fell gently onto the bed.

The rest of the gang watched with half amusement, knowing that Tala was in for it.

Without warning, Tenchi sprung forward, sweeping the pillow from under his feet and landing it directly into his face. Even for somebody with a quick reaction as Tala, it had been impossible to avoid such impending doom.

In minutes, the room was covered with loose feathers and empty pillow cases, shortly after a pillow fight had occurred. The five of them lay sprawled on the floor, puffing slightly as they stared up at the ceiling.

"Told you not to mess with me." Tenchi scooted towards Tala, grinning widely.

The boys groaned - how they got caught between the sibling war was unknown.

Blowing away a stray feather that tickled his nose, Bryan smacked Tala's head with an empty pillowcase. "You started it, so you clean it up."

As Tala was sputtering out protests, a soft knock came from the door, and everyone turned their attention towards it. Tenchi dusted herself off before rising and heading to it, quickly pushing security passwords into the computerized lock and opened the door.

"Tenchi! Good to see you looking so well."

She blinked, finding herself at a loss for words. Clearing her throat, she said softly,

"Hello Mrs. Hiwatari! How are you?"

~*~*~*~*

Kai glared fixedly at the girl, eyes flashing with cold fury. Who did she think she was?!

With one last daunting look, he whipped passed her, motioning to Ray that it was time to come inside.

She shivered, hardly noticing that Ray had been talking to her. Feeling the heat rise slowly in her face, she ducked her head to hide the unsteady flow of tears.

"Don't worry about him - Kai's always like that. Kesumi?"

An unspoken silence told him enough, and he turned away to give her time. "Are you okay?"

For a moment she did not answer, and when Kesumi looked up, Ray was startled to see that her face was streaked with lingering tears. He hadn't expected her to be crying. Sure Kai had been harsh, but he was like that...if only she understood. But Kai had been particularly defensive today, Ray huffed, he had fan girls nipping at his heels day and night, what was the big deal?

"Kesumi?" He tried again, nudging her gently on her elbow. She flinched away, "What?"

"You're trembling."

Ray slipped his jacket over her huddled frame, awkwardly zipping up the front for her. She seemed to be entirely unresponsive, cold as ice, yet staring blankly into some black abyss. "Kesumi.."

She was shaking more violently now, and Ray watched her with a worried gaze. What could he do for her? Although slightly apprehensive at his new solution, Ray helped her through the entrance in the courtyard and headed towards his hotel room.

At least she'll be warm in there - though I'll have a lot of explaining to do. Kai might've gotten the wrong impression of her, but I know she's nice. Besides, even he wouldn't want someone to catch a cold or something, would he?

Nodding reassuringly to himself, Ray led her inside, hesitation and concern lingering on his face.

~*~*~*~

Kai leaned stiffly against the marble railings, his left arm tightly folded on top of one of the smoothly carved bars.

He had been defensive, but why?

Something was nagging at his mind, and he found himself regarding it with a large amount of annoyance. His head was ringing as if hit by a metal hammer, and he caught himself grimacing into the mirror. It hurt like shit, though he would never tell or admit it to anyone - that would just hurt his pride. But he knew this pain was extreme, because he was so immune to pain by now, it wasn't possible that he could actually feel it so vividly.

The pain seemed to come..from the inside, like a throbbing ache. Something was not right.

This is all because of that stupid girl!

His fingers clenched into an unconscious fist, it really hurt. Gritting his teeth, he took in uneven breaths, quickly masking a flicker of pain.

*Kai! It's not funny, give me back my crayons!*

He kept hearing voices - was he going insane?

*See you alive Hiwatari.*

Mental hospital, that's where he was heading for.

*Honestly, if you two aren't going to pay attention to your studies, then maybe you should leave Kai and me to tend to our homework. Don't bother us, we're studying!*

Oh fuck, what the heck was going on?

Leaning slightly over the railings, Kai let his head droop gently against the night wind, sighing deeply. Regaining control, he clamped down on the voices in his distant mind. But that girl was so familiar...shut up! Don't think about that.

He had always taken pride in his ability to control his emotions, sometimes to the point where he couldn't even feel them any longer. Today though, it seemed - dare he say it - impossible, because those emotions seemed to be erupting, as if triggered by something.

Concluding on this note, Kai turned to walk back inside, determined not to, yet desperately trying to decipher confused messages his mind was sending him.

Deciding to take a brief walk around the grounds, he slipped through the door and into the shadows, leaving the security guards around the Blade Breaker's hotel suites oblivious to his exit.

That girl was a stranger, although that was uncertain. What he did know was that she was familiar, as if he had known her all his life.

Maybe he had, just maybe he had.

~*~*~*~

Sleeping, that's what she was doing, but that was not what made Ray so panicked.

Kesumi was on Kai's bed. Asleep. He hadn't meant for her to fall asleep there. As soon as they walked in, she just kind of collapsed - from exhaustion, no doubt - onto the team captain's bed.

He couldn't bear to wake her up; she had just settled down considerably and was easing into sleep. He just couldn't do it.

Sighing, he anxiously awaited Kai's arrival, the guy deserved to know why a girl he didn't seem to like all too much was sleeping in their suite. Not to mention on his bed.

Had it been Tyson's bed, or Max's or Kenny's, Ray wouldn't have worried a second. They would have understood.

But Kai?

Ray knew he was in for it.

Crouching down next to her, Ray checked for her temperature. Didn't seem too bad. Sighing with temporary relief, he stared intently at her, realizing for the first time of how much in common she had with someone. Who was it though?

Stumbling back to his own bed, Ray discarded his clothes in the washroom before pulling on t-shirt and shorts. I can't fall asleep before Kai gets here, he thought, stifling a yawn. But a quick shut eye won't be too much of a bad idea.

~*~*~*~

Tenchi watched Mrs. Hiwatari talking softly with Andrew. He had been so excited to see his grandmother, although he had not expected her here - but then again, neither did she.

Tala was also watching them from the sidelines, a fond smile on the tip of his lips. "I wonder how long Mrs. Hiwatari can stay. Andrew has missed her so much. It's not like he can visit her frequently, what with all those Boris minions flitting around."

He looked up, "I don't know. But I know that she won't be staying long. The walls have eyes, you know that. Boris can be watching us anytime."

She pursed her lips, sliding down the wall as if she had lost the strength to remain standing up. "You okay?"

Tenchi gave him a soft nod, and flashed a weak smile to reassure him. A fat load of reassuring that did.

"Okay, honestly, what's up?" Besides the usual worries about getting betrothed, he thought bitterly.

"Just tired. I think I'm going to sleep early today, you know the tournament is only the day after tomorrow. Uncle wants me to check up on the stadium and stuff tomorrow. Want to come along?"

"As much as I would like to, I can't." Tala winced, "Boris caught Ian flirting with some chick across the hall - she's some sort of actress from Paris that came to visit. Don't really know."

Tenchi raised an amused eyebrow, turning her head to look up at her brother. "Really? Ian flirting with a girl? So he may be one of my closest friends, but that doesn't mean I don't have eyes when concerning him. He's...well.."

"Ugly?"

"Well..."

"Really ugly."

"Right."

As Tenchi gave him a skeptic eyebrow, he relented, sighing. "Okay, so maybe it wasn't exactly Ian, but it was sort of kind of...Spencer."

"Spencer. Uh - huh."

"Brian."

There she laughed, smacking her forehead, Brian? As if!

"Okay, okay. So it was me. But hey, I was bored."

She rolled her eyes - boys. Turning her attention back to the centre of the room, Tenchi smiled as she saw that Andrew had fallen asleep on his grandmother's lap. Mrs. Hiwatari was stroking his ebony hair gently. That was the thing that made Andrew so easy to keep as a secret. He didn't look Kai or Kesumi too much, but he certainly did resemble his grandmother.

"I better get going." The elderly woman said, and Tala stepped forward to relieve Andrew from her.

"I'll walk you out Mrs. Hiwatari." Tenchi offered, rising up from her spot.

In the background, Tala slipped through the door with Andrew in his arms. "I'm going to take him to bed, the kid must be tired."

She nodded before turning back to Tenchi, "No, no. That's okay." She paused, affectionately touching Tenchi's head. "You've grown so much. A beautiful woman, you are. Just like your mother."

Mrs. Hiwatari beamed, "Take care of Andrew for me, Tenchi. And your brother."

"Goodnight Mrs. Hiwatari. Don't worry, I will take care of Andrew - and Tala." For as long as I can.

How was that? If you were looking for a happy Kai, Kesumi, Tala and Tenchi reunion - well, this was a surprise, wasn't it? Lol, leave a nice review for me, and I'll be sure to update more quickly..later~