I'm the biggest KaRe nut out there (which is obvious since I can't leave it alone, even in this fic), but I saw an episode and it just made me go AWWWWWW! ReiZo is just TOO CUTE!

:cough:

So, I thought: I'm going to do the first ReiZo oneshot on (I think anyway) because next to YuriyRei it's my favorite non KaRe Rei-pairing (though I'd place TakaoRei after it) :OMG! I did NOT just say that:

/random subject: My favorite non KaRe Kai- pairing is... nothing. XD; I HATE any pairing with Kai in it thats's not KaRe.

Anyway, yeah. Shut up Jess.

Initially, the visits had been near constant. Heh, I suppose that it takes a complete breakdown to make your friends realise how much you mean to them.

Most of all, it had been Takao who had come to me. He really was my hero, and I relished in those times he would drop by, just to see how I was. It made me stronger and he made me feel more and more that it really was okay to be what I was. He smiled and laughed with me. He hugged me when I cried. He treated me like… like a person. A real person.

Is it any wonder that I became so dependant on him?

He was my hero, my idol, my friend. And then there he was, playing the part of my knight in shining armour. He would beam at me, and my world would light up.

I love him so much. Which is why it hurt the way it did when the frequent visits died down.

I expected it of the others. They were never truly that close to me. But Takao…I guess I really believed that we had something magical. I thought that any day he was going to make that leap and kiss me. It sounds silly, but there was definitely something there between us. He'd always lean in close to me, and he'd always be touching me gently on the arm, or in my hair. Sometimes he'd put his check to mine and whisper that he was glad that he'd found me in my ear.

Was I so wrong to hope?

His visits were the highlight of my day, and yet one day he didn't come. I didn't mind of course. It made me feel a little insecure but I knew that he'd be round the next day.

Only he wasn't.

Of course I understood that he was probably really busy with other things, but before he had always made the effort to see me no matter what. It hurt, because when he eventually did drop by three days later, he seemed so distracted. He was as pleasant as ever and in my joy to see me, I barely took note of the sudden distance between us. It wasn't until he was leaving I realised that, for the first time Takao didn't look like he was going to be counting down the seconds until he saw me the next day. Once he had gone I had looked at the clock and realised with worry that he had stayed for barely an hour as opposed to his usual four or five.

Being the person that I am, I made up every reason in the world why Takao had been in a rush to go, but eventually, the real reason hit me with sickening clarity.

He'd lost interest in me.

He was carrying on with life, blading and hanging out with the other members of Team BBA, and visiting me had become a chore. I was a dead weight from the past, once a great challenge and an adoring friend, and now just some other kid.

It broke my heart, but I put on a brave face and hoped that maybe, just maybe I was wrong.

Soon after my realisation, he visits stopped all together, followed quickly by the phone calls and the text messages. And once again, I was alone- another forgotten machine.

Life continued, as it does, though the world seemed duller to me. At least it did until two days ago when something extremely strange, but not unwelcome happened to me.

"Master Zo! There's someone at the door for you!"

A young man with thigh length, teal hair and matching coloured eyes paused in his playing, startled that there could be someone to see him. His first thought was that of Takao, but he quickly dismissed it, ignoring the faint but still sharp tug in his chest.

Still, his curiosity got the better of him and he set aside his violin, placing upon his cream quilt before heading out of his room and down the stairs.

He couldn't help but gasp in surprise when he saw the figure of a slim young man with bound, long black hair talking to the maid who had let him in. The other boy twisted around at the sound, turning shapely yellow eyes upon him.

"Rei-san! What are you doing here?" He asked with mild shock.

Rei blushed and looked slightly ashamed. "I'm sorry to drop round like this. I know that I don't visit much, but I…I just wanted to come see how you are I guess. I'm sorry if I'm being troublesome."

Zo shook his head emphatically. "No, no! Of course you're not, please come in." Rei smiled his thanks and almost shyly shuffled further into the hallway. Zo smiled back, pleased at the prospect of company and waved his hand. "Follow me, we can go to my room. It's more comfortable there." Rei nodded and obediently followed his ex- team- mate up the stairs.

As they walked, Zo cast a glance back at him, noting immediately the way that Rei held his head down, watching his feet rather than holding his head up high as he usually did.

Zo sighed and carried on walking, worrying about the other teen. What Rei had said earlier had been a little bit of a lie. While his visits had been no where near as frequent as Takao's had, he had called often to check up on the younger teen, and Takao had informed Zo that Rei was extremely busy post tournament, so it was understandable that Rei hadn't been round everyday.

Still though, out of everyone on the team asides from Takao, Rei had been the one he had been closest to. He hadn't really expected anything off Kai once the tournament was over, and he hadn't been disappointed. Max had never really bothered with him either, despite his cheeriness, Kyoujyu's world revolved around his laptop and Hiromi had viewed him as some kind of rival for the position of team mascot so they had never really hit it off.

As soon as they reached his bedroom, Zo moved to sit down on the bed and patted the quilt next to him. Rei immediately sat down next to him and gave him a bright smile. "So, how are things?"

Zo regarded him steadily for a moment. "Nothing's changed since you phoned last week. I'm fine, how about you?"

Rei nodded. "I'm fine, too."

Zo raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

"What do you mean 'really'? Of course I am!" Rei smiled.

Zo stared back at him. "Rei, I mean no offence, but I can tell that you're not 'fine'. Look you don't have to tell me what's up, but you don't have to pretend to be 'okay' either."

For a moment, Rei looked absolutely shocked before it faded, leaving behind a wan smile. They sat in silence for a few minutes, Rei staring at the quilt while Zo alternated between watching him and looking out of the window.

"They announced a new tournament today." Rei's soft voice cut through the heavy silence, making Zo jump from the unexpectedness of it.

"Yeah?" He responded.

Rei sighed heavily and his eyes remained downcast. "I think I'm going to leave."

"Leave? Why?" Zo questioned, growing more worried. "Has something happened?"

"I just think that it's time I proved myself by standing on my own two feet, rather than living in Takao's shadow." He assured with a sad smile.

"And the other reason?" Zo pressed.

This drew Rei's gaze away from the bed to meet the others eyes. "You're astute. I suppose I'm not used to people taking notice of me enough to realise that I'm not happy. I should have kept my guard up." He joked lightly.

Zo smiled at that. "Of course I take notice. I'm used to being alone so when I see someone else, I tend to analyse him or her. Sorry if it's intrusive."

"No, it's fine, Zo-kun. I guess it's kind of nice to have someone just to talk to." Rei sighed.

Zo smiled at him. "I'll always be here to talk to, if you need it."

"Thanks." Rei whispered. They fell into silence once more, and again Rei was the one to break it after a few minutes. "Have you ever been so close to someone that you thought that maybe there was something more there? That you begin to think that maybe there's a chance that they are your soul mate, that they could be 'the one'?" Rei spoke quietly.

Zo's heart clenched and he stared at Rei with wide eyes. "Yes." He whispered heavily.

Rei stared back at him, the pain in his eyes confirming that he more than understood. "Takao?" He asked.

"Yeah." Zo replied sadly.

Rei nodded. "I don't know what happened there, Zo-kun, honestly. He really did seem so keen on you. We all thought that it was only going to be a matter of time before he made a move on you, but… I don't know. He just suddenly started spending all of his time down in the park blading with the kids, or with Hiromi and Max and Kyoujyu. It was like-"

"- he lost interest in me." Zo finished.

Rei looked torn between wanting to deny or confirm it to be true. Figuring the truth to be better, he gave a resigned sigh and nodded, shoulder slumping. "I'm sorry, Zo-kun."

Zo gave him a wan smile. "Don't be. I've come to accept it. I'm not human anyway, so I should have hoped for much."

Rei's head snapped up. "No!" He blurted out. Zeo jumped at the ferocity in the normally calm teens voice. "No." Rei repeated, softer this time. "Don't ever think that. You're one of the nicest people I've ever met, and one of the bravest too. Don't be cowardly and blame your problems on being an android- it doesn't suit you. Be brave and accept that you are a person- as everyone else sees you."

Zo sat silently, absorbing the others words. "I'm not brave though." He said in a small voice.

Rei gave him a short laugh. "Zo-kun; you jumped into a battle that you knew you had no hopes of winning just to get me to wake up. That's bravery, and to this day I hold that as the moment I realised how worthy you were to be great blader and how great a friend you are, so don't give me that 'I'm not brave' rubbish, because we both know that you are." Rei finished with a smile.

"Rei-I…" Zo found himself smiling. "Thanks."

Rei nodded. "Don't worry about it."

Zo shook his head. "I swear, you have this magic gift for making people feel better. I saw it from the moment I met you guys. They're lucky to have you on the team. They'd all fall apart without you looking after them."

"…yeah." Zo's head shot up when he heard the underlying pain in Rei's voice, noticing that Rei's face had twisted into a distraught frown that he was trying desperately to cover up.

"Rei-san? Rei-san, what's the matter? Did I say something wrong?" Zo asked, worried that he had upset Rei. He reached forwards and grabbed Rei's shoulders. "Rei-san… talk to me."

"You don't have to listen to my problems." Rei responded in a pitifully small voice, forcing a smile that only made Zo worry more. He'd never seen Rei like this. Sure he'd seen him worried, or a little offended, but never so hurt.

"Yes I do. I want to, besides, you spend so much time trying to sort out everyone else's problems that you don't know who to go to when you have your own. So talk to me, I'll listen."

Rei looked surprised for a few moments before he gave a resigned sigh. "I'm leaving. Tomorrow." He stated.

Zo blinked. "What? Leaving? Where- why?"

"I'm going home- to China. And it's because, I know how you feel." Rei began in a very small voice. "I know how you feel about thinking that you were so close to getting the one that you want only to have it thrown back in your face." He paused and took in a shaky breath. "I know how much you're hurting, because I feel it too."

Zo gave him a sympathetic look. "Kai-san?"

Rei looked surprised again, before nodding slowly as a sad smile played upon his lips. "We…we were so close. We'd been on the verge of becoming friends since a year ago towards the end of our first World Championships, and I thought that I was… well; I thought that I was special. You know? I was the only one who he'd talk to of his own free will. He'd give me his opinion and he'd ask for mine. He never did that with anyone else.

"And then… this year when he came back, he came straight to me. We sort of… latched onto one another. We walked together talking among ourselves, we'd train together, and we'd sleep next to each other. It was like… a comfort thing between us and, the feelings that I had for him grew even stronger. Before I knew it, I had totally fallen for him.

"So… so I started flirting. Casually at first and then a little more obviously, and yet he flirted right back. Sometimes I'd go off to think and he'd come and find me and sit next to me. He'd even let me rest my head on his shoulder. We never really said anything, but he was always making it obvious that he was there for me. Every time I was distressed or angry, he'd be the one to come and find me. He even went out of his way to fight for me- on two occasions. He's never done anything like that for anyone before." Rei took a deep breath and squeezed his eyes shut. Zo could see that he was fighting back tears. "Everything made me hope. I know that I was foolish too, but it seemed to me that I was the only one that he had ever cared about so much. I began to believe that I really stood a chance at…at… I don't know what! Something! I really thought that maybe he could possibly love me like I love him, or at least like me. There were so many occasions when I thought that he was going to kiss me. Only he'd pull away and give me an embarrassed smile and go back to acting like my best friend.

"But… I was stupid. I was stupid and naïve like I always am. I don't know why, but ever since the World Championships ended, he's… it's like he's had no time for me. He's off on his own all the time like he used to, and he doesn't come and talk to me any more, or sit by me, or… anything. It's like he's just suddenly decided to have nothing to do with me. He's acting so cold towards me, like I'm not even considered a friend any more. I mean, the other day I went off to find him and when I did I sat next to him and put my head on his shoulder, only this time he shook me off and got up, told me that he was going to 'train alone for a while' and walked off. And it sounds stupid, but that broke my heart because it confirmed that he didn't want to be around me any more." Rei's voice finally broke as the tears he had been trying to hold back broke free to stream down his face.

"Rei-san…" In all of the time Zo had known Rei, he had never seen the other boy cry. No matter how hard things got, Rei had never cried and yet, there he was angrily wiping away tears that wouldn't seem to stop flowing.

"Heh, I know it's stupid to cry, but it's just so frustrating." He tried to smile. "I'm more angry at myself than Kai. I was probably just misinterpreting it all. God I'm pathetic."

"No!" Zo couldn't hold back his outburst, horrified, as he was to hear such a strong person reveal such a deep-seated sense of self-loathing. Without thinking, he reached out and grabbed the other boy, pulling him into a tight embrace. Rei sat there stunned for a moment, off balance as Zo squeezed him to himself and buried his face in his hair. "Don't ever think that! It's not our fault, Rei-san. We were stupid enough to fall in love, but we were right to hope. To look at you and the way that you acted around each other I would have thought that you and Kai were together and I know that, despite my own self-doubt that I was close to getting Takao. We didn't ask to get our hearts broken, but we're not pathetic for it. We were right to hope, if we hadn't of hoped then we would have been pathetic." Zo told him, his own voice thick with tears.

Rei clung to him, sniffling miserably. "It just hurts so much, Zo-kun." He whispered.

"I know Rei-san. I know, but we can still hope. Maybe they'll come around, or maybe they're both just a little freaked out about getting into a relationship." Zo whispered.

"Y-Yeah… maybe." Rei sighed heavily. "Maybe or maybe not in my case. Either way, I'm doing to cowardly thing and running home with my tail between my legs. I just can't deal with this any more. I can't keep on living around him knowing how it used to be, with him ignoring me and treating me like I'm nothing to him any more."

"You're not being a coward, Rei-san. You're trying to move on, and that's very brave. It's more than I can do, and I admire you so much for it." Zo whispered with fervour.

"Zeo-kun…" Rei looked up at the younger from where he was buried into his shirt and for a moment, all Zo could see were big yellow eyes. He wasn't even aware that he was bowing his head down until he could feel Rei's breath against his lips, hot and coming out in short bursts. Unsure of why he was even doing it, but caught up in the moment, Zo made the last movement to push his lips against Rei's.

Rei moved away suddenly, sitting up. Zo found himself nearly over balanced and he blushed violently, ashamed at what he had almost done, and even more humiliated by the fact that the other had moved away so quickly from his brash advance. "Rei-san! I-" He hurried, desperate to dispel the awkwardness he had created. He was stopped however, by Rei shifting closer to him and taking his chin in his hands, gently but firmly turning his face towards Rei's.

Rei regarded him with soft eyes. "I'm not Takao, Zo-kun. And you're not Kai."

Zo gulped. "I-I know." He whispered.

Rei nodded. "As long as we both know that." He stated, before he leaned in and pressed his lips firmly to the smaller boy's. Zo's eyes widened at the suddenness of the action and gasped, provoking Rei into hesitantly slipping his tongue into Zo's mouth. Zo quivered at the shy touches and slowly bought his arms up to wrap around the taller teen's neck, squeezing his own eyes shut and returning the attention.

Their inexperience made the kiss awkward but no less sweet and eventually, by some unspoken agreement, they pulled away from each other. Both blushed and shared a shy smile as they rested their forehead against the others as Rei's hand, which had somehow found itself in Zo's hair at the base of his neck rubbed soothingly against his scalp.

Zo's eyes fluttered at the motion, making Rei smile. He took his hand back and ran it through Zo's teal fringe, leaning in to place a small kiss upon his lips as he did so, before he pulled away completely, moving to stand.

Zo opened his eyes in confusion, but upon catching sight of Rei standing before him, he smiled back. Rei returned the soft smile for a few moments before he turned and made his way to the door. When he reached it, he turned back to the other boy. "Zo…I…thanks." Zo gave him a fond smile and nodded, fully understanding what Rei meant. All Rei had ever wanted was for someone to be there for him, and he was happy to fill that role for as long as it was needed. Rei nodded back. "See you around, kiddo."

And then he was gone.

The next day, Rei was gone.

The television said that he had returned home to China to rejoin with his old team to enter the up and coming championships.

I hope he finds what he's looking for there. I hope he finds the closure that he needs to go on. Or maybe, his absence will shock Kai into realising just how precious Rei really is to him.

Who knows?

I owe a lot to him. He helped me more than he could ever know.

I personally feel as if we both gained some kind of small amount of closure, that day in my room. I still love Takao, but somehow it doesn't hurt as much as it used to. I wasn't on the verge of doing something stupid and cliché, like cutting my hair off over him like many of those Japanese teenage girls do.

Or maybe I didn't… maybe I just gained someone else to pine over, because the day after Rei left…

I went out and had my all of my hair cut off.

Did I mention that I think this pairing is ADORABLE?