A/N: I have no idea where the inspiration for this came from --u Ah well, read and (hopefully) enjoy lol

Warnings: Boy and boy, don't like, then don't read

Disclaimer: Don't own, don't sue

!#$&()

The Dare

Rei wasn't sure who he hated more in that spit second it took for the words to sink In. Takao, for thinking up the stupid dare; Max for supporting Takao; or Kenny for just standing there staring, speechless.

"There is no way I'm doing that." Rei said flatly. "Dream on Takao."

"Come on Rei!" Takao pleaded. "You have to!"

"No. Kai would kill me." Rei shuddered. "And I'd be kicked off the team. No offence or anything, but I'm not risking that for your amusement."

Takao pouted. "But Reeeeiiiii…." he pleaded. "Come on- Kai would understand."

Rei raised an eyebrow.

"Okay, maybe not. But you gotta admit, it would be really funny." Takao grinned.

"Only for you." Rei retorted dryly.

"Max agrees with me, don't you Max?" Takao asked, both he and Rei turning to face the blond boy.

Max looked like a deer caught in the headlights. He looked from Takao's grinning face to Rei's scowling one and gave a nervous shrug.

"It would be kinda funny…. I guess…" he said finally.

Rei groaned. "Let's get this straight- you want me to get Kai drunk, then get him to admit his deepest secrets? That's not funny, that's suicide!"

Takao flopped onto the sofa. "I'll pay you $10. American." he grinned.

Rei raised an eyebrow. "That's pitiful."

"No it's not! That's all I've got!"

"I'll give $15." Max volunteered.

"And I'll give $12." Kenny offered.

Rei sighed. "$37? Heh…" he shrugged. "Fine, I'll give it a shot."

Takao and Max grinned at him.

"But if I go down, you three are coming down with me." he glared at them, and grinned inwardly when Takao gulped.

"O- Okay…"

"Good." Rei leaned back. "And I'm presuming you'll be providing me with the alcohol?"

Takao frowned. "Hey! That wasn't part of the deal!" Rei glared at him, and the bluenette quickly backtracked. "Uhhh… I mean, yeah sure…"

"I've got a better idea." Kenny put his beloved laptop down. "Why don't you just take Kai to a bar somewhere? And charge the alcohol to Mr Dickinson's account?"

"How do I do that?"

"Well…" Kenny handed him a visa card somewhat reluctantly. "This card has all our money on it, Rei, so be careful."

"Where the hell did you get that from?" Takao demanded, envisioning all the food he could buy using that credit card.

"Mr Dickinson gave it to me to look after." Kenny gave a sheepish grin. "I'm sure he won't notice if you use less than $100, Rei. And no, Takao, you may not borrow it."

The neko jin sighed, ignoring the now sulking Takao. How was it that he had gotten into this mess? He stuffed the card into his pocket and stalked off upstairs to where Kai (hopefully) was.

He found the team captain sitting on his bed, seemingly absorbed in some thick Russian novel. Not wanting to disturb him, Rei slipped into the bathroom and turned the shower on, wanting to delay the dare for as long as possible.

The neko jin leaned against the shower wall, thinking things through. It didn't sound hard- convince Kai to go with him to a bar, get him drunk, then ask him stupid questions. But it was going to take a freaking miracle to get Kai to open up to him, even if he was drunk. And that was presuming that he actually got drunk. And that was presuming that Kai was going to agree to go with him.

This is not going to work, Rei thought. And I'm not sure I want it to. If I do get Kai drunk, and find out his darkest secret, then he'll hate me forever. Rei groaned quietly. He couldn't imagine a life without Kai or the Bladebreakers, and he didn't want to be able to. The thought was far too depressing.

Realising that the previously hot water had turned cold, Rei turned off the shower and wrapped a towel around his waist. He entered the bedroom that he and Kai shared, realising that he had to ask Kai to go to the bar with him soon.

Kai was no longer reading- he was sitting on the bed, staring out the window. Rei coughed quietly to get his attention. But the Russian didn't respond. Puzzled, Rei coughed again, this time a little louder. Still, no reaction.

Kai was deep in thought, pondering all of the mysteries of life.

Like why he was in love.

And why the object of his affections was the person he knew he couldn't have.

Rei Kon.

Kai heard his name being called out and quickly snapped back into the real world. His eyes widened by the tiniest fraction when he saw that Rei was standing in front of him, with only a towel loosely hanging off his lean hips. Water droplets ran down the smooth planes of his chest, and down, past the towel, to places that Kai could only dream of.

He quickly averted his eyes, glad that his pants were baggy and would hide his obvious discomfort.

"Kai? Kaaaiiii? Hello?" Rei was giving him the strangest look, and Kai couldn't blame him.

Great. Just great. Now he probably thinks I'm a crazy bastard instead of just a bastard.

"What?" Kai snapped.

"Oh! You are awake, after all." Rei grinned at him. "I was just wondering if you were free tonight?"

Kai stared up at him. He's asking me out…? Kai gritted his teeth. But only as a friend.

"Hai. Why?" he demanded brusquely.

"Well, there's a new place in town that I really want to go check out. Want to come with me?"

Kai's instant reaction was to say no, but then he saw the hopeful look on Rei's face, and knew that there was no way he could possibly refuse him.

"Why not?" he asked rhetorically, and was rewarded by the neko jin's grin.

"Great! Well I'll go get dressed, then we can go. Does that sound good to you?"

Kai would have preferred it if Rei didn't get dressed, but he kept that insight to himself and nodded. "I'll go have a quick shower."

"Oh, sure. Ummm… I think I may have used up all the hot water." Rei said apologetically.

Kai shrugged. "Doesn't matter."

I need a cold one anyway.

!#$&()

Rei gave himself a look over in the full length mirror and nibbled at his lip anxiously. He hoped he didn't look overdressed.

He was wearing black trousers and a white shirt which had the top three buttons undone. Rei shrugged. These were his best clothes, and while they probably would look slightly out of place in the bar they were going to, he didn't want to look badly dressed in front of Kai.

"You look good." Kai's cold voice interrupted his thoughts.

Rei jumped and turned around to face the Russian who had an unreadable expression on his face. "So do you." he said truthfully.

Kai was dressed in black pants as well, and a tight black shirt with a black jacket on top, which reached below his knees.

He does look good, if not a little gothic, Rei thought and smiled at him.

Kai wanted nothing more in that moment than to slam Rei against the wall and do unspeakable things to him. He smirked at the thought, not noticing the bewildered look on Rei's face.

Why is he smirking…? He looks like he's up to something… Rei thought suspiciously.

"Shall we go then?" he asked aloud.

Kai looked at him, the smirk now wiped off his face. "Yeah sure. Do you want to hail a cab or should we walk?"

Rei looked out the window at the rapidly darkening sky. "It's only 3 blocks from here, and the weather isn't bad. Let's walk."

Kai nodded and they left the dojo. Rei looked back once, and saw Takao and Max's grinning faces looking back at them. Rei scowled and picked up speed.

"You cold?" Kai asked, thinking that the reason Rei was walking so fast away from the dojo was because he was cold.

"No, not really." Rei cursed himself inwardly, realising that he had left his jacket lying on his bed.

"If you want, you can borrow my coat." Kai offered.

Rei blinked, surprised by Kai's sudden generosity. "Oh! Thanks." he was glad for the darkness- his blush would've been obvious in the daylight. "But I'm alright, really. It's not that cold."

"If you're sure." Kai shrugged. "Where are we going exactly?"

"Rosita's." Rei replied. "It's opposite that large Italian restaurant. It's a small bar/nightclub thing."

"You been there before?" Kai asked as they crossed the street.

A car suddenly tore down the road and Kai grabbed Rei instinctively, holding the neko jin against his body. Rei suppressed a gasp as he suddenly found himself flush against Kai's lithe body, a muscular arm wrapped protectively around his slender form.

"Uhhh…" Rei cursed his sudden lack of eloquence. "Thanks."

Kai wished the ground would just open up and swallow him whole. He hastily let go of Rei and took a step back. "Sorry, I didn't mean to-" he gritted his teeth and broke off. "Sorry."

Rei looked at him, surprised. "Why are you sorry? You just saved my life, I think." Rei smiled at him. "Thank you Kai."

The Russian boy returned the smile hesitantly. "It's okay…"

They walked on for another block in silence, though it wasn't awkward.

"No, I haven't been there before." Rei said suddenly. "Sorry, I just realised that I never answered your question."

The edges of Kai's lips curled upwards. "Glad you have such a good memory." he murmured.

Let's hope you don't, Rei thought, already dreading the thought of tomorrow.

"Hey! Take a look at that sexy bitch!" a drunken voice yelled out. "Why don't you come over here and play with us you whore?"

Kai and Rei would've just walked past except the man grabbed Rei's waist.

Both boys stared at him, shocked. Kai, because the man had dared to touch his koibito, and Rei, because he had just been called a sexy bitch.

"Yeah, you like that don't you?" the man leered at Rei in what he obviously thought was a sexy way, stroking the neko jin's waist.

Kai regained his senses first. "Let go of him." he commanded through gritted teeth.

The man peered at the Russian blearily. "Him?" he repeated in obvious confusion.

"Yes, him." Rei replied angrily. "Now get your filthy hands off me."

"But you look so girly!" the man protested.

Rei's eye twitched.

"And really pretty…"

Kai punched him.

It wasn't hard enough to knock him out, but definitely hard enough to hurt. The man staggered back, nursing his bruised jaw.

"What the hell was that for, asshole?" he demanded and punched Kai back.

The blue haired boy barely flinched, but Rei gasped in horror. "Kai!"

The Russian punched the man again, this time on the temple, knocking him out completely.

"Kai, are you alright?" Rei rushed to his captain's side, and inspected the bruise that was rapidly blooming on his cheekbone. He traced the outline of the bruise. "It's going to swell if we don't get some ice on it immediately. Come on, let's go back to the dojo."

"No." Kai shrugged Rei off. "It doesn't hurt. Come on, let's just go to Rosita's."

"But Kai-"

"Come on." Kai tugged on Rei's arm. "Let's go before this asshole wakes up."

Rei followed Kai silently until they were outside of Rosita's- it wasn't that busy, as it was a Wednesday night.

Rei grabbed Kai's wrist before he could walk inside. The blunette turned around, surprised.

"Hai?"

"Thank you." Rei nibbled on his lower lip. "No one's ever fought for me before… so thank you."

Kai smiled. "The dickhead had it coming to him anyway. He must have been drunker than I had thought it was possible, to mistake you for a girl."

Rei shot him a grateful grin and let go of Kai, who opened the door for him.

"Don't you dare say ladies first." Rei warned him as he stepped inside Rosita's.

"Wasn't going to." Kai muttered, though the thought might have crossed his mind…

Rei went immediately to the bar and ordered vodka and cranberry fro himself. Kai ordered some alcoholic beverage that Rei had never heard of before.

Rei glanced at the bottle in his hands. 5 alcohol. Perfect.

This way I won't get drunk, but it'll look like I've drunk the same amount as Kai. Rei was really beginning to regret agreeing to the dare. Kai's been so nice to me tonight- he saved my life and beat up a guy for me… and I'm paying him back by getting him drunk and getting him to tell me his deepest, darkest secret? I can't do this.

Rei knocked back the entire bottle in one go. He ignored Kai's incredulous stare and ordered the same thing Kai had ordered, and began gulping that down as well.

"Christ, Rei, slow down!" Kai grabbed the half empty bottle from the neko jin's slightly shaking hands and set it down on the bar, far away from Rei's reach.

"Is something wrong? What's the matter?' Kai took in Rei's flushed cheeks and the shame in his amber eyes.

"Kai, please don't be angry with me…" Rei pleaded in a half whisper.

The Russian looked vaguely alarmed. "Why would I be angry with you?"

"Well, Takao, Max and Kenny… well, they dared me to take you to a bar and get you drunk."

Kai felt like someone had thrown a bucket of ice cold water over him.

"And then I was supposed to find out your darkest secret." Rei finished miserably. "But I can't do it… Please, Kai, don't be angry…"

Kai stood up, and stalked out of the bar.

Rei groaned. Shit…

He paid for their drinks and ran after Kai. The Russian hadn't gone far- he was standing on the street corner, waiting fro the little green man to light up.

"Kai! Kai, chotto matte!" Rei called out.

Kai ignored him steadily, though he didn't walk off.

Rei rushed to his side, and looked up into Kai's face, trying to get the slightest hint of what Kai was feeling, but the boy's face revealed nothing. "Please don't be angry with me, I never thought-"

"No you didn't fucking think." Kai's quiet voice cut like a million daggers into his soul. "Did you presume it was going to be fun, getting me drunk and then wringing all my secrets from me? I trusted you, Rei!"

Rei hung his head in shame. "Oh, God… Kai, I'm sorry… I didn't think about it properly when I agreed. But then I realised I could never do that to you." he looked up at his impassive captain beseechingly. "I never meant to breach your trust, Kai."

"Well you have." Kai turned his cold gaze on him and Rei flinched.

"Kai…"

"My darkest secret? You want to know what it is?" Kai asked.

"No, please, I don't care- I just want you to be able to trust me again." Rei pleaded.

"But you were willing to destroy that trust earlier in order to find out, so why should it matter now?" Kai asked bitterly.

"I wasn't thinking, Kai!" Rei grabbed Kai's arm as the older boy started to walk across the road. "No- please don't walk away Kai…"

The next second, Rei found himself being dragged across the road and held against the wall.

"Kai-" he gasped, terrified.

Holy shit! What's happening? Goddamnit, I'm never, ever listening to Takao again, Rei thought. Kai's going to kill me for sure.

He shut his eyes, preparing himself. But instead of the expected punch or kick, Rei felt a pair of soft lips caressing his own.

The neko jin's eyes flew wide open, before fluttering shut again.

Kai's… kissing me? Rei thought, more confused than he had ever been before. Why is he kissing me? I thought he hated me!

All too soon, Kai pulled back. He looked at Rei sadly. "There's my secret. Happy now?"

"You like me?" Rei asked, his voice coming out in a whisper.

"I love you, baka." Kai turned around and kept walking.

"What?" Rei croaked out, unable to believe what he had just heard.

Kai was in love with him? He had always thought that Kai detested him- but now that he thought about it, Kai had always treated differently- he talked to Rei the most, and would sit next to him if he had to sit next to anyone.

He loves me… Realisation sunk in. He loves me! But do I love him? It didn't take long to figure that one out- Rei sprinted after Kai.

He caught up to the Russian boy just outside the dojo. "Kai! Wait!" he yelled.

"What do you want, Kon?" Kai's voice was monotonous, but Rei detected a hint of hurt underneath his words.

"How dare you!" Rei burst out, storming up to his captain and blocking the entrance to the dojo. "How could you do that?"

"Whatever, Kon. I get the point- you hate me. Let's just forget this ever happened." Kai stared at a point past Rei's left shoulder, unable to look Rei in the eye, and tried to push past him.

"No! You wait right there." Rei said angrily. "Don't you ever, ever, do that again!"

"Fine, I won't kiss you again, happy now?" Kai felt like jumping off the nearest cliff. He wished Rei would just leave him alone so he could just wallow in his misery.

Rei looked surprised. "I wasn't talking about the kiss you dolt!" he said, and a light blush covered his cheeks.

"You weren't?" Kai asked, surprised.

"No… of course not." Rei grinned up at him sheepishly. "I- uh- I kinda like you too." he confessed.

Kai's face lit up, amazement and disbelief showing clearly in his crimson eyes. "Rei…"

"What I meant was don't you dare walk away from me like that again." Rei finished.

"I can most definitely guarantee that I'll never, ever do that again… In fact, I don't think I'll be leaving you alone at all." Kai smirked and pinned Rei against the door.

Rei grinned. "I think I can handle that." he brought their lips together, and this time there was no awkwardness, no shock- just the revealing of emotions and a gentle sweetness that Rei never guessed Kai to be capable of.

I hope this moment lasts forever…

!#$&()

"OH MY GOD! MAX! KENNY! You've got to come look at this! Rei and Kai are outside and you won't believe what they're doing!"

!#$&()

A/N: Enjoy CC is welcome, flames are not.