Il Ladro Matrice

Chapter: 9

More People To Remember

Kai sighed in relief and disappointment as he was placed onto the floor by Rei. At least he was placed on the floor, Tyson was dropped.

"Where are we?" Kai asked Rei.

"Just a tree. A dear friend of mine should be coming out soon," Rei said calmly. He was swaying from side-to-side as he waited. Max leaned on Wolborg. Kai and Tyson just stood… doing nothing, you know, just standing.

A white, with green stripes tiger revealed itself from the tree. It pranced proudly towards the group; it's eyes never getting distracted to another direction. He stopped in front of Tyson and Kai (who were trying to act calm around the bit beast) and said in a low menacing voice, "Are these the humans you speak of Rei?"

Rei smiled in looked up at Driger. "Yep," he said all too cheerfully.

"Hm…" Driger lowered his head to the level of the two humans. "If you harm Rei or Max, you will pay." His threatening voice spooked Tyson and sort of annoyed Kai. He was just automatically assuming they were bad people for being humans.

He walked away. He looked into the direction of Dranzer and his eyes widen some as he realized that she were a phoenix. Phoenixes in these parts of the world were rare. For her to survive the war meant something.

Rei caught the shock in Driger's face and knew what he was thinking. He wanted to know if this was the same bird Mitsu had taken.

"Don't mind him. He's just overly protectively," Max explained as he shrugged is shoulders. "Now let's go do something!"

"Dranzer," Kai said. The phoenix flew over to her master. "Do you want to travel with us or explore the forest alone?" Dranzer cocked her head to the side as she thought about her decision.

"I think it's best for her to travel with us for now until she gets to know the area, and then she could go alone. Other bit beast live here and they too have their own territory. If she intrudes without knowing, they wouldn't feel the need to listen and attack her."

"What do you think Dranzer?" Kai asked.

"Okay," Dranzer responded. She hooted and flew on top of Kai's shoulder.

"What ever happened to that kid with the glasses?" Rei asked.

"You mean Kenny? Well, we need him to distract someone. The only thing we could think of making him build and create with someone watching and helping. Kenny hates buildings things around others if it isn't important, so this was a big sacrifice for his pride," Tyson said with fondness in his words.

For the rest of the day, all four of them (including Dranzer and Dragoon) okay, so all six of them enjoyed the time they spent together. Late at night, Kai and Tyson returned to their home. There they saw a pretty calm looking Tala and Kenny working together. They were indeed more surprised than ever as they actually saw Kenny working together with someone willing if it wasn't a immediate situation. That was like Tyson not being hungry all the time and Kai calling things cute and smiling.

Kenny and Tala didn't see it that way. Tala eventually-- though he regretted not spending time with Kai-- went to bed.

Kenny went home occasionally, but he had many experiments to attend to, so he stayed at the mansion for the night. Besides, he was to exhausted to hear Emily nagging him.

Meanwhile Max and Rei joyously entered their home and found Driger in a foul mood. The tiger still didn't like the idea of them spending time with humans. Dragoon, following them so he wouldn't have to be on guard, tried to cheer up Driger by nagging him. That didn't help either and he ended up being forced back to the entrance/home. So, along came Draciel. His way of helping Driger was by telling him how old he was being. The tiger growled at the turtle, he was not getting old.

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Finally, the day came for Rei to meet Tala. Personally, he didn't want to go, but he really didn't have much of a choice.

He snuck out of the tree house and with his speed, he was able to arrive at Monkey Island. There, he met the grinning Tala.

Ah, Tsuki. It's good to see you. You came the day I requested; for that, I really appreciate it." Tala took a hold of Rei's hand and smiled charming up at him. "Are you prepared to go?"

Rei got a little nervous but hid it well. "Yes," he responded as coolly as he could.

Tala released Rei's hand but continued smiling. "Relax, come ride with me in my car so we can arrive at my home." Tala began walking towards the car with Rei behind him; still nervous.

As they drove to Tala's home, Rei stared out through the window. He wondered as to why Tala would do all of this if to simply trouble him into going to a party? No matter what Rei did, he was trapped by him. Also, knowing Tala is rich, he would most probably have a few "contacts" that could easily draw his face by descriptions, running away was off from the list. Keeping his identity of being part bit beast hidden was still on the list.

Now that he thought about it, if he is getting suited up and having a change of clothes, wouldn't they noticed the fangs, markings and claws scattered across his body? Rei inwardly groaned as he realized hiding his identity from Tala was soon going to be crossed out from the list too.

As the car came to a screeching halt, Tala opened his side of the car door, walked behind the car and opened Rei's. "We have arrived."

Rei was slightly embarrassed and touched about being treated like this from a stranger. He never experienced this kind of things, he heard stories of princesses and other fairy tales that included these things, but he never dreamed of the day that he himself would feel like the stories.

He walked out of the car and looked at the mansion. He clearly wasn't what he expected. Oh, don't worry, it was fabulous and remarkable like all mansions. It had butlers and merry colors that made one's soul feel at ease and in a daze at the beauty. That wasn't what made Rei gawk. The familiarity of it was what surprised him. Why would Tala be at this place? What was his connection? Did he live in the Hiwatari mansion? Yes, this was the same place home he had a preview of from Mitsu. The same place that Kai lived in along with Tala.

"Is it that stunning to see?" teased Tala.

Rei heard him and knew that wasn't the reason he stared, but he didn't need to tell Tala that. "Yes. It's really fantastic, Tala. I mean it," Rei half-and-half lied. What he said about the place was true, but it wasn't the reason he stared.

"Don't be afraid, just enter and you'll be fine. I assure you," Tala spoke sweetly to Rei. "No one is going to hurt you either as you change. Just measured and they figure out all of the measurements."

Rei sighed in relief. His identity was safe. For now. Now, what if Kai and Tyson were hear or attending this? That was his new problem.

He walked alongside Tala as they traveled through the huge halls, past many rooms until they arrived at their destination.

"Enter through here and wait for a perky and happy person named Ureshii to grab you and hug you. Tell her your name and she'll be busy with you." Tala left and turned the corner leaving Rei in front of the door and get to the tailor. She sounded like a good person so he shouldn't have anything to worry about right?

With a little curiosity, he opened the door and looked inside. There was pure darkness, but with his sharp eyes, he was able to see the lining of a figure. He assumed it was Ureshii from the way the body was shaped. "Ureshii? Um, this is Re-- Tsuki. I was requested to meet you by Tala for my measurements."

A women that looked in her twenties with striking red hair like Tala's. She was tall and had nice curves. She smiled sweetly and gave Rei a big hug. "Oh my, aren't you the adorable one?" she lifted Rei off the ground as she squeezed.

"Tell me, your name is really Rei is it not?" the sly smirk she gave Rei really crept him out. How the hell did she know that anyway? "By your expression I can tell you are curious as to how I knew this. There is a good reason why I know this," she said calmly as she placed Rei back on the earth.

"Why don't you just tell Tala Valkov your really name. It won't kill you and he won't kill you either. Believe me when I say this, Tala has no intentions of harming you mentally or physically, he just needs you to get close to someone." Rei raised a curious hand to his chin. Who did Tala want to get close too? Hopefully, it wasn't any of the bit beast.

"It isn't anyone you know, hopefully, Rei." There she goes again. Knowing exactly want he was thinking.

"Someone named Kai Hiwatari," she said nonchalantly as she pushed Rei through a doorway. "Don't worry about it. The plan may not work since Kai hates talking to strangers," she smiled pleasantly and made Rei stand on a stand. He just obeyed everything she said and did since he was in too much of a shock. He never figured that Kai and Tala would know each other. This was getting to confusing for him. They all seemed to be connected.

"My, my, my, Rei. You could easily pass as a women," Ureshii said as she looked up at Rei. Rei blushed a little at that. It wasn't something he liked, but the way she said, it wasn't mean; more of a compliment. "Of course if you had a chest that is." That statement made him almost tumble from the stand in embarrassment. "Hey, don't take that way. Unless you are a transvestite. Then, you'd probably love that compliment"

"I'm not!" his face turned redder and redder. She knew how to get to that point in someone that made you want to kill yourself from embarrassment.

"It's just a joke. No need to get feisty. Your dress should be ready in an hour." Rei moaned at the word dress. He really wasn't going to enjoy his time as a cross dresser. Ureshii patted Rei's head, barely missing his pointed cat-like ears, and said, "Don't worry. Tala would've taken a real girl if they all weren't looking for marriage. Ladies these days, all they look for in a man is his money and… other things," the way her eyes squinted and looking in the other direction gave Rei a pretty good idea what she meant by "other things." She seemed to be really good at making him blush too.

"I better get going," Rei said. He really liked Ureshii, but he wanted to know exactly want Tala wanted.

"Good-bye Rei. Come visit me sometime and you better tell Tala your real name or else," she waved energetically and pushed Rei out of the room. He had a feeling being around Ureshii will cause him to say things in his heart he never knew about.

Rei stood in the middle of the long corridor, he stared down each end as he realized he had no idea where he was going. Great, now what do I do?

"Ah I assume you must be Master Tsuki," said a confident, strong and polite voice. To be honest, it spooked Rei a little. He talked and moved so quietly Rei's ears couldn't pick him up and his nose couldn't pick up any different smells besides the strong perfume Ureshii wore.

"Ah don't worry, I'm here to escort you to Master Tala. I'm am the butler of the household. Please, come along," the butler began walking in a dignified and perfect stride. Rei wondered if he should really trust this butler, but he didn't really have any other leads. So he followed to butler.

"Um… excuse me, Mr. …" Rei trailed off as he just remembered he never caught the butler's name.

"Datsumyo, call me Mr. Datsumyo, Master Tsuki." Mr. Datsumyo never turned his back to face Rei as he spoke.

"Okay. As long as you stop saying master and Tsuki. My name is Rei," as he said that, he became a little alarmed. He didn't want the butler babbling to Tala that he lied about his name.

"Okay, Rei. As long as you don't say Mr. ," Datsumyo said.

Rei blinked a few times and smiled. "It's a deal."

The butler finally look back with a cheerful grin and said, "Why, yes it is."

Datsumyo and Rei paused in front of a polished oak door with tall doors. Datsumyo knocked three times softly on the wood and waited for someone to open the doors.

Tala pulled opened the doors and Rei walked in the room. As he did so, Tala led him to a seat and he sat in the one across Rei's.

"You may be wondering why you would want me to dress you as a girl. And you probably already know that it involves someone named Kai," Tala spoke bluntly and didn't waste time to get to the point.

"Would you care to explain?" Rei eyes narrowed and he had was wearing his poker face. No one could figure out what emotion Rei was feeling.

From what Tala had explained, Rei had concluded that this was a pretty stupid plan. It seems Tala wants to go to the ball with the most prettiest girl (Rei being the prettiest girl) and the point was to make Kai jealous. He'd known Kai all of his life, but they weren't close; not childhood friends, not playmates, just… acquaintances.

"So you just want to be friends with Kai?" Rei asked. Psh, that's not as easy as it sounds. I doubt Kai even likes me Rei thought. His heart ached a little from the last comment but he chose to ignore it.

"Hm. I guess. Just get connected with him considering he is my cousin and doesn't know it," Tala had a distant look in his eyes while Rei's eyes had a shock look all over his face. Cousins! And Kai didn't even know! That was something he'd never guess. "Don't be so shocked. As soon as I get close to Kai, I'll tell him this and explain how," Tala's voice held confidence to his plan.

"Fine. I'll help you," Rei said. If it was for Kai then he wouldn't have a problem helping.

"Ah, 'tis good to hear, but you don't even know the identification of Kai Hiwatari,."

"Trust me, I know him," Rei didn't feel the need to tell how.

"I'll take your word for it. Come to think of it, who doesn't? Now that this is settled, your dress has arrived."

Rei looked up to see Datsumyo entering the room with a fluffy white dress with black and gold steaks running across. The lace were does colors as well. It was indeed beautiful and he thought it might not look half bad on him. Rei looked longingly at the dress. It would look pretty good on him and may even impress Kai…

The hell! Screw that thought. It'd look terrible! It was meant for women, women! Kai would not get impressed by this. Rei scolded at his naughty thoughts.

"Datsumyo, escort Tsuki back to my mother and have him change their. Drive him in the limo to the ball where I will meet him at the entrance."

"As you wish Master Tala." Datsumyo gathered up the dress and exited the room with Rei behind him.

Rei wondered who Tala's mom was (a/n: As if this isn't obvious -.-) and he wondered what other surprises he was going to learn. You'd think he would try to avoid Tala and Kai's connection and not get to know these people, but he felt that he had to know. He may even learn a few things about Kai and his mother during his stay here. He would benefit from this at least. He also got to meet new people that one day he may consider really good and close friends of his. Ureshii and Datsumyo welcomed him warmly and even understood him more than others. People couldn't easily bring out the playfulness, excited, curious basically all of his true emotions and personality with such ease. It amazed him and scared him that he could be like this. In truth, he kind of liked it.

"We have arrived Rei," Datsumyo confirmed as he stopped in front of the same door Rei went in to be measured by Ureshii. If this was her room, then that meant. "Yes, the woman who measured you named Ureshii is Tala's mother." Now he was reading Rei's mind.

"Wait. Tala's mother! But… she's quite young. At least twenty!" Rei outburst didn't seem to stun Datsumyo at all.

"She's forty-two, Rei. Many people mistaken her age by her young appearance so don't not take heed of it or tell Ureshii that I told her age. She dislikes others knowing her age and refuses to tell anyone and let them continue guessing," Datsumyo smiled and shook his head.

"Oh, I'll keep that in mind. I never knew this," Rei eyes went from side to side.

"That is correct. You never knew this and I never told you," Datsumyo did a small bow to Rei. "Farewell," he said then departed.

Rei entered the room and was hugged by Ureshii of course. "Oh Rei!" she cried. "I knew you were going to come back, but not this soon. You must have really missed me. Oh! I've missed you too. You are just to adorable to resist," she continued squeezing and adoring Rei for a considerate amount of time until she released him.

"Yes. I've missed you. Can we please begin fitting to the dress and then head to the ball?" Rei was to anxious about this. He wanted to rush and be in a haste. Even though he has told Max that being like that won't solve anything, he couldn't help it in this case.

"Aren't you in a hurry?" she smirked and gave Rei a knowing look, resulting in Rei blushing and looking away. Yep, she was embarrassing him again.

They went into the back of the room and dressed Rei. In so happened Ureshii assisted Rei with the complicated dress and so he had to suffer through a terrible moment of getting dressed. He felt a little childish for asking help with dressing, but a little… secure. She also didn't mind his markings and traced over them with her fingers giving Rei chills down his spine.

The way she was so calm about the uniqueness of Rei made Rei wonder more about how much she knew about him. So time he was going to have to ask her.

As they finished with the last finishing touches to the dress, Rei exited the room, after receiving a peek on the cheek from Ureshii, and went with Datsumyo to the ball to meet Tala and possibly Tyson.

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Moonlight: it's summer break and it still took me forever to update! My God. I suck. This time I will try my hardest to update faster. I'm so sorry and thank you loyal reviewers who deal with me. Now, onward with my replies to the reviewers.

Akumizu7Yay! My fics cool.

VGMaster04: Thanks for reading what I have written. Sorry it couple of days, but I'm glad you enjoyed it. Generally I make my chapters for this story three thousand words or more, but I just made it three thousand this time so you won't have to suffer reading this. Thank you so much, even for letting me know you've been reading my works.

Forfirith The Dark Angel: Yes! My story still has not been abandoned! I was thinking Kai's face was hilarious looking as well. Expect more smiling from Kai in later chapters. ;D I think I've been getting too much sleep. Oh well, thank you so much for always reviewing.

The Bubble Gum Ninja: You are a EXTREMELY EXCELLENT reviewer. I still think someone out in this world who reads this and too lazy to review wants to murder me. Heck, I want to murder them for not reviewing. Not you of course. Thank you so much. I really appreciate it.

Moonlight: Expect an update for this story a little while after my Violin Lessons story. I'm on the last chapter for that story. Oh, and when I say 'a little while' this means a week or two. I'm that slow okay! Leave me alone!

Kai: Oh shut up.

Rei: Come on, Kai. You have to pity her a little. She's trying so hard.

Kai: Tch. To torture me.

Rei: She isn't that evil. Right Moonlight?

Moonlight: … No comment.

Tyson: Read and review people. Or she won't update. She already knows what happens, so not updating won't kill her. She has other stories and ideas to attend to.

Max: If you read this and don't review, you'll die in seven days!

Tyson: That movie was stupid.

Max: I know, but some people may actually get scared and review.

Moonlight: No. They won't. Unless they suck more than me.

Kai: No that's impossible

Moonlight: Shut up!

Kenny: Just read and review please people. Moonlight will adore you forever.

Max: And you won't die in seven days!

Moonlight: My God! Shut up!