Enpitsu: Thanks for the reviews! Responses are down below.
Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade or the restaurant, Panera Bread.
Claim: Plot is mine and so is Hileimi.
Smile
Chapter Two
Oh Baby
Someone has got to be playing a proverbial joke on me. Rei couldn't believe his unbelievably rotten luck. The very girl who annoyed him without good reason was standing next to him, ready to accept their mission.
Larent offered a fatherly smile as Hileimi received the boy. She held it in her arms as if it were real and Rei continued to curse everything in sight. He wordlessly took their folder from his sixth period teacher and started walking off the stage. Hileimi waved good-bye to the teacher and skipped down the stairs at the side.
At the end of the pairing ceremony, each couple had to sit next to one another to acquaint themselves. Max and Kai, who were both single fathers sat together to Rei's far right. He could see Tyson and Hilary already arguing and thanked the stars his relationship didn't start off on a bad note. Well, not that bad anyway.
"So, what's our assignment?" Hileimi asked, cradling the so-called "child." Rei glanced at her and quickly opened the envelope. The young woman leaned over, her long layers tickling his cheeks, so she could read along as well. Nonetheless, Rei shifted slightly and started reading out loud.
"Both of you were instantly attracted to each other and spent a night of rabid lust together . . . ?" he started off, face contorting at the strange sentence. Hileimi's expression matched his own but then she urged him on.
"Not thinking about the consequences"—this part was in capital and bold—"both of you went your separate ways. The young woman found out she was pregnant and came to the young man when she was almost nine months pregnant."
"Wow. They really emphasize the 'young' part, huh?" Hileimi muttered, rolling her eyes. It was Rei's turn to ignore her as he continued reading.
"After much debate, both of you decided to try and get to know each other. You both want to stay together for the baby. You are both in college in this scenario and will be receiving more information that correspond to your careers," he ended lamely. He stared down at the paper in disdain. They were really were up for hell-raising weren't they?
It didn't seem like Hileimi had listened or heard the last part, since she was cooing the fake child. Rei resisted the urge to roll his golden eyes. It was only fake after all. But the way her head was tilted down, wavy hair veiling her face; he almost forgot she was the weird girl from earlier. She looked almost . . . not annoying.
"So, the first mission is to pick a name out, right?"
The serene air that was only around the two was broken as she looked up with her eccentric eyes. They weren't the same ruby-tinted shade of crimson as Kai's but more chocolate based. He noted the strange way she referred to things as if she were an undercover agent.
"Yeah," he said, leaning back into his seat. He tilted his head to look at her. "Any ideas?"
"Why don't you go first." It was more of a statement than a request but Rei decided to let that little detail slide.
He thought for a long while. Rei had never really thought about having kids so he didn't know what he wanted his children to be named. He was more of person that thought about the present, which was better than some people he knew that stressed about what was going to happen in the next hour. But when he wanted to, he thought out a plan. Lately, that's all he's been doing. He cleared his throat, put that idea aside, and decided to take a blind swing.
"What about Daniel?" he suggested, not really knowing where how that name came up. Maybe deep inside it had been his first pick. It looked like Hileimi had other plans though, since her nose scrunched up slightly.
"Um, I have a bad history with that name," Hileimi confided shiftily. Rei started to give her a strange look again but her happy demeanor came back. "I like Robert."
"That sounds . . ." Rei trailed off, not wanting to say "Stuck up." For some reason, the last two words came out of his mouth without him knowing. She raised an eyebrow at him.
"And Daniel isn't a stuck up name?" she retorted hotly. "I know a hella lot more snobby Daniels than Roberts, yo." Rei's eyebrow twitched slightly as he set his jaw to not snap at her.
"I happen to actually like the name Daniel," he said lowly. The girl pursed her lips at him, also trying not to blow her top.
"And I like the name Robert," Hileimi said, voice just as stiff. They glared at each other for a moment before they both started shooting names out at each other.
Couples around them turned to look at Rei Kon, who was actually showing a different emotion than indifference or politeness to a girl. Granted, it seemed to be annoyance, but it was an emotion nonetheless. His eyes were flashing, his posture was upright; it seemed any moment the feral cat would strike. But Rei was never one to completely lose his temper so hopes of a cat-fight beginning were diminished among the crowd. He would never fight a girl, anyway.
The young man stopped himself before he could call her a certain name. She looked at him as if she knew what he was going to say. Rei, being the more mature of the couple, put his hands up in defeat. "Alright, alright. We'll name him . . . Robert."
Hileimi was looking at him with skeptical eyes and Rei frowned. If she didn't want that name didn't she say so! She calmed down almost immediately and a smile replaced her earlier anger.
"Why don't we name him Reidan?" she asked, looking down at their "child." The young father raised an eyebrow at her and before he could ask any question, she started to explain.
"See, there's and 'R' for Robert and D-A-N from Daniel," she said, trying to find a compromise. "The E-I could be from both of our names. Actually, R-E-I spells out your name I think, but that's alright . . ."
Rei stared at her for a moment until her eyes locked with his. He looked away and sighed in relief. At least they had gotten over the first hump. They sat in silence for moment, looking around at the other students. Max and Kai were having a dandy time—Max's child was a boy and he seemed to be making suggestions of play dates, which Kai was all but glaring at him for.
The bell rang to dismiss the seniors and everyone got up in a bustle. People grabbed for their bags and shouted at their friends across the room while the babies cried as well. Those who's children were bawling, put in the pacifier immediately. Tyson seemed to be tangled in the string of his so he tried putting his finger in the baby's mouth. Of course, all that earned him was a smack from Hilary.
"Sorry, but I gotta go to tutoring for trig," Hileimi said sheepishly. "I'll take Reidan for the rest of school, but maybe we could meet up later and talk more?"
Rei looked at her hopeful look and sighed mentally. He wanted a good grade though, so he picked the best decision he could.
"Alright, I'll see you later at Panera, babe!" Hileimi waved good-bye and lightly jogged off to her class, even though it was lunch. People looked around at Rei because of that slip-of-a-pet-name that she called any gender but he ignored them. He really had to have a talk with her about the way she spoke.
The young man was really starting to have his doubts as he bit into his sandwich during lunch. His face was in its usual calm countenance but on the inside he was having second thoughts. For some reason he still didn't know, Hileimi wasn't giving him a good vibe. It was as if she had a bad aura pestering her and he was being affected as well. She was pretty and out-going so why couldn't Rei bring himself to try and be her friend?
Kai watched his best friend from across the table. The sky had started to grey while the seniors were in the auditorium, so the both of them decided it would be easier if they stayed inside. Rei was in serious thought—the Russian could tell by the way he had been chewing the same piece of sandwich for minutes.
"What's wrong with you?" he asked bluntly. The Chinese teen immediately snapped out of his reverie and looked up at his friend, eyes wide but trying to shrink back to normal size. He saw it was useless to lie, and spoke so his voice was a low whisper.
"I'm not feeling this whole 'baby project'," he confided in his tenor. Kai sat back and chuckled at his friend who glared back. "Seriously. The girl . . . Hileimi. She's really . . . strange."
"Oh, tell me about it."
Both young men turned to find Michelle sitting next to the Russian, back facing the table, and legs provocatively crossed without them even trying to be. Her full, graciously layered, auburn hair ran along her front in volumes. The reason why females revered her or envied her was the fact she looked attractive no matter what she did. Amazingly enough, she wore the uniform the way it was supposed to be worn, but it didn't stop her from being even sexier.
When neither of the boys answered her, she continued on her own.
"Just 'cause she came back all 'blossomed' or whatever, doesn't mean all the guys should think she's hot," she said lightly. "I mean, she got a hold of Proactive and kept up dancing, but no one is really gonna believe her gangster act. She talks like she's from the ghetto sometimes and she calls any person 'babe.' I mean, that's so lame."
The young men exchanged concise looks at her remark but they stayed silent. Who would believe Michelle's act? Another thing about her that was fake was her nose, which was right next to Kai's left cheek. She was leaning into Kai, who just stared at her. She was actually smart so she knew not to get any closer to a rabid wolf.
"It's a shame that you're alone, Kai. A fine specimen like you deserves some loving," she cooed quietly. Rei could hear her though and he went back to his beloved sandwich, but he had lost his appetite. "I know someone who could give you that lovin' . . ."
"I don't think so," Kai said strongly. He couldn't take it anymore and politely pushed her away. "Don't you have your fan club to get back to?"
Michelle decided to look past the hidden insult and gave a sultry smile. Leaning her back against the edge of the table, she sighed. "I'm glad that you noticed. You know, I could have any guy I wanted to, and I have . . . except for you."
She ended this with another seductive smile. As she turned around to face Rei though, he tried to shrink as her hazel eyes fell on him. He was never really comfortable around her. He wasn't intimidated but it was as if he was a little wary of the bitch that really lay inside.
"And you, little Rei, have always avoided me too," Michelle said, pouting. The Chinese teen humbly ignored her and she huffed. "I sure hope you two aren't gay!"
Rei choked on his piece of bread and Kai stared at her with the look he could only give to the stupidest person in the world. After Rei was sure he wasn't going to die, he took a breath.
"That is something we're not." Michelle looked at him with another cute smile and he instantly regretted speaking.
"Ooh, finally you talk, tiger," she giggled, using her very old pet name for him. The golden-eyed man sent a distressed look to his friend across the table. "It's an absolute shame that you got stuck with 'Hey-Lay-Me.'" If you pronounced Hileimi's name phonetically, it sounded like something along those lines. Both males caught the joke but Kai was the one who took action, always wanting to see Michelle slip up.
"That's a name you wouldn't mind having, isn't it?"
"Only if it's one of you saying it."
With another giggle Michelle walked away, waving cutely. Kai and Rei exchanged exasperated, but slightly amused, looks. This time, the final point went to Michelle. Their relationship with that girl was stranger than Hileimi was. She annoyed them and, in turn, Kai would get back at her with some kind of insult. Sometimes it backfired when Michelle was able to get out of it with her pride still in tact. It was hard to corner her because she was terribly witty. Great body with a devastating mind: A bad combination.
"Hey, at least you have a girl that's alive, unlike my girl in the scenario," Kai said nonchalantly, shrugging and going back to the subject of their previous conversation. "And at least it's not Michelle. I heard she got dumped in her's." Rei looked at his friend and nodded, knowing he was right. As he took another bite, Kai spoke once more.
"I named her Amaya," he said, in an odd, conversational mood. Rei gave a crooked smile at the name of Kai's daughter. It was a Japanese name that meant "night rain."
Rei was silent for a few moments, picking at the left over crust. With a decided face, he threw it into the trash can right next to the table.
"His name is Reidan."
After his only class with Kai, sixth period AP Physics, Rei was surprised to see Hileimi near their classroom. Apparently, she had science the same period because she was animatedly chatting with Tala Valkov, who Rei knew to have AP Physics with Mrs. Larent. Sometimes it was a funny thing to see the husband and wife argue about who taught better physics.
Tala normally went after exotic looking girls so it was no surprise why he was conversing with Hileimi, a flirtatious glint in his aqua eyes. He probably wouldn't act on it though, since he had been more of a free spirit lately.
The young woman holding Rei's "child" shared the same golden tan he did, but the pale sun gave her face a healthy glow. She was still cradling Reidan as if he was real and the father had to admit—it was a good picture.
Rei blinked at that sudden thought. He hadn't gotten one like that for a long while. He actually thought a person was a good picture. The young man mentally slapped himself and it immediately went away. The thought was only there for a good two seconds, but it still bothered him.
Kai walked up to his friend who, at the moment, had a very strange look on his face. He elbowed him and Rei snapped out of another reverie. He turned to the Russian and gave a very cheesy, very fake smile. The two-toned man raised and eyebrow at his strange antics and looked at the point Rei had just had his own golden eyes on. Kai smirked.
"You have every right to stare. She is the mother of your child," he snickered. It was Rei's turn to stare at him in an odd way. He was very tempted to ask if he was alright.
"I've gotta go to a meeting," Kai continued, as if nothing had happened. "You need a ride home or what?" Rei shook his head.
"Nah. I've got to meet with Hileimi," he replied. The young man had tried to hide the groan in his throat. Kai nodded and waved good-bye.
Rei didn't really need a ride home. His apartment wasn't really that far. He lived in the apartments owned by Weatherbury High. Not all students had to live in them; they were for those who lived alone. Thankfully enough, Rei didn't need to pay for his room and board.
He walked over to the still-conversing pair, hands shoved lazily in his pockets. The young man and woman turned to them, both donning pearly smiles. Rei gave a half-smile of his own.
"You're a lucky guy, Kon!" Tala spoke up, hitting his friend lightly. The aforementioned teen looked at him strangely. "This girl won't go out on a date with me as long as she's your partner for this whole project."
Golden eyes fell on Hileimi as she shrugged. "Hey, I want a good grade on this, yo. I don't wanna take the risk as dating to be called adultery." As she laughed and started to put away her binder, which was out of her backpack for some reason, the two males looked at each other.
"I'm serious, man. She's really cute," Tala said in a whisper. "I'm lucky Salima doesn't mind me looking since she has Kane." Rei shook his head and sighed as Tala's cool eyes went over to the young lady once more.
"When this is over with, I swear, she is all yours if she wants to be," Rei muttered. The red-head looked at him as if he was crazy.
"Whatever, man. Your loss." And with that, he grinned, and stood straight once more. "All right, kids, I gotta go take care of some business. Later, Rei. I hope I see you later, too." Tala winked at Hileimi as he walked away in an arrogant, but joking, way. This left her laughing.
"Whoo, boy, that Tala is one funny guy," she remarked, wiping a tear from the corner of her eye. As soon as she regained her composure, she fixed Rei with a reminiscent look. "Here, it's your turn to hold Reidan."
He stared at her, mouth slightly agape. Why did he have to hold the kid? He wasn't even real! But from historical editions of the Tribune, he knew that makers in Japan made them as real as they could get. All they needed was a real heart, not a metal one. He groaned.
"But here, I picked something up from the counselor's office to make holding him easier." Hileimi moved aside to show a grey baby carriage. "Tala showed me where my counselor's office was—since I didn't see my own the first day—and that's why we were out early."
"That's great," Rei said, looking at the carriage and actually meaning it. He disregarded her unneeded explanation as she carefully placed Reidan where he was supposed to be. She held the carriage out to him with a grin.
"Ready to go, babe!"
That's how they came to the restaurant called Panera Bread. It was a decent place to eat and Rei liked it, but he wasn't surprised when Hileimi absolutely loved it. She seemed to know everything that was on the menu, including the soup of the day. He watched her delicately bite a sliced pickle and then take a bite of her grilled sandwich. She swallowed with a very satisfied look on her face and took another bite.
The restaurant was quiet since it was already three o' clock and it was quiet enough. People with laptops or novels were sitting accordingly while some nibbled on pieces of their victuals. Rei looked down at his own chicken sandwich, a better version than the one he had eaten at school.
The girl across from him was almost done and Reidan was sitting in his carriage on a small table next to them. Rei had let her pick the seats and she had chosen ones right next to the window. They were sitting at a cafe-type table, two chairs on each side of the wooden circle. Those on the outside thought it was a very cute picture. Rei, on the other hand, did not.
Why didn't he want to be her friend? He didn't even know the answer to that one. In a way he supposed he was just too used to being in a small group that he didn't want any other friends. But then that didn't explain why he was comfortable with Salima. That's a shit-faced lie. He had a small crush on her last year. It was all over though.
Rei knew he was being selfish and—possibly—a little shallow. Just because he didn't like her romantically didn't mean he couldn't like her as a friend. Rei decided he would try harder, but he had a feeling he had a talk like this with himself a little while ago.
"Okay, so I guess I'll go first." She was talking about telling a little about herself. Rei let her, with grace. "As you know, I'm Hileimi Yogoya. I used to go to Weatherbury Middle, but I moved away in the middle of eighth grade. My parents are ballroom-dancing world champions—with salsa dancing too and those different types—so they got offered a job in Europe to teach." That last part wasn't said with the same enthusiastic voice as before but she recovered. "They let me come back here since it's the only place I was ever hella happy. The only person in the house besides me is our butler, Robert. He's like a dad to me."
Rei now knew where she got the name Robert. No wonder she got so offended when he called it stuck up. Any guilty thoughts momentarily ceased when he looked up to see her smiling at him. He cleared his throat but she was the one who spoke.
"I remember you gave me a charcoal portrait before I moved. It's really beautiful. I still have it."
Rei's memory immediately kicked him where the sun didn't shine. How could he have forgotten? Hileimi was the last person he did a portrait of before . . . before the accident. It was that very night that he had found out what happened to his parents. They were murdered by a drunk driver. He couldn't even look at their faces.
"Rei? What's wrong? Did I say something bad?" Hileimi asked, actually concerned. His face had paled enough so that it was noticeable through his golden tan. He immediately regained his composure, something he and Kai had perfected, and shook his head.
"You were the last person I did a portrait of," he said to her. "You're lucky you were next in line or else you would have never had that charcoal print."
Hileimi was silent. Her eyes were still filled with concern from his reaction to her story. "Why did you stop painting people?"
"My parents died that same night I finished your picture," and I lost the beauty of people. Rei decided to leave that last part of his explanation in his mind. Hileimi's eyes softened considerably and she cracked one of her knuckles out of habit.
"I'm sorry, Rei . . . If I'd have known it would bring back bad memories, I wouldn't have brought up the portrait." She sounded different from her normally loud voice. It was quiet, worried, and somehow sweet. He ignored her.
"Well, now you know what happened to me," Rei said, changing the subject. "It's been the same ever since you've left; nothing big."
He looked at Hileimi, expecting her to have the same smile on her face. Her eyes were downcast and melancholy and she cracked a few more knuckles. Rei sighed. The last thing he needed was a depressed teenage girl. He had moved on from his parents' deaths, really he had. He lived in their memory. But he couldn't handle a crying woman.
"If you act like that, you'll make me feel even worse," he bluntly said to her. She looked up at him and gave a shaky yet apologetic smile. To make her feel better so he didn't have to console her later, he gave a small smile of his own. She blinked up at him, making her seem like a baby kitten.
"You should give real smiles more often," she said innocently. "If your fake one looks that good, your real one should be hella perfect."
Once again, his sympathy for her ebbed back a bit. Hileimi really was a very strange girl. When she smiled again he was just grateful he survived the situation he had just been in. Reidan started crying and Hileimi immediately reacted. She took the pacifier ring she had been wearing and gently inserted into his mouth. The baby stopped crying and she set the carriage in her lap, grinning.
After all matters had been taken care of, the pair stood outside facing each other. Rei was holding Reidan in his carriage and Hileimi started to crack her knuckles again. "Uh, Rei?"
"What is it?" He looked down at her sheepish smile and knew she was going to ask him something. He sighed mentally but said nothing.
"Can you be the one to have Reidan at night?" she asked him, another knuckle cracking. The taller of the two raised an eyebrow.
"Why?" Hileimi frowned and put her hands on her hip.
"I've had him all day and you can't even take care of him durin' the night?" she asked, slightly annoyed at him for a change. "Do you know how bad it sucks when he starts cryin' durin' a test and you can't find the damn key?"
"All right!" Rei said loudly, bending down to look her in the eye. "I was just wondering why you couldn't keep him. I would've taken him either way but the night is longer than school days . . ." Hileimi glared at him and sighed.
"Fine, if you must know, I have dance practice every weekday 'cept Fridays," she admitted. Apparently it wasn't a thing she wanted many people to know about. "I don't want Robert taking care of him for four hours because it'll be like I'm neglecting him for dance . . . I don't want it." She looked angrily to the side but seemed to mentally slap herself. "I want at least his dad to be there. He shouldn't have to be raised by a butler, great though he is."
Rei watched her through curious eyes. Ah, so she does have deep thoughts. He knew Hileimi was hinting to her own parents. At least she still has parents. He kept those mean thoughts inside and sighed as well.
"Okay, fine," he mumbled. "I just wanted to know."
"I'm sorry, Rei," Hileimi apologized, grinning. "You have every right to be suspicious or curious. Oh, there's Robert. I'll see you tomorrow in the quad?"
"Yeah," Rei called, watching her run into the black BMW (which reminded him of Kai's slate grey one). The young woman turned around and waved, a huge grin on her face.
"Are you sure you don't want a ride?" Hileimi shouted.
"Yes!"
As her car sped away, Rei looked down at his so-called son. He stared back up at the near-adult with brown eyes. The older one sighed. It was going to be a long night.
A/n: Hey guys! Thanks for the reviews! Lol, elementBLUE, your's was super long! It's okay that you weren't the first! XD That's alright, I'd rather have super long ones that super short. Yes this chapter was very long, Ksarap! XD I'm also glad you thought this was well written, cookie crumbs! I have a feeling the next chapter is going to be hard for me to write, so bear with me please!
After the fourth or fifth chapter, I'll start to shorten the length of the chapters if you guys want. So, please vote:
(A) I hate these stupid long chapters! They take a long time to read.
(B) I like long chapters! They give me a chance to get to know characters better.
(C) I don't really care about the length, as long as you update.
In the next chapter, Rei learns how hard it is to take care of something, be it a robot baby or something else. The rest of the gang appears again and it seems that Kai needs help, too. At school, Hileimi's touchy side is shown. Just what's so bad about being sick, anyway?
Thank you for reading and please review!