Standard disclaimer applies -

'Autumn leaves of faded crimson drift almost lazily down from the trees, colour set against the blue of the sky, complementing.

'You reach an up-turned palm out, wanting to catch one such falling leaf, your eyes alight with adorable childish delight as you partake in such a simple pleasure.

'It has me smiling covertly, as a twirling silver of burgundy lands gently into your grip. You glance up at me, a pleased grin stretching across your face. In return, the corners of my lips turn up ever so slightly.

'Then the trees and the leaves fade away, and the crisp morning air turns stale and torrid. You are staring at me, but the grin is gone, replaced with an acerbically accusing glare that pierces through my skin, making me shiver in consternation.

'I try desperately to reach out to you, but you disappear along with the scenery, and the next thing I know, I am waking up in my bed, drenched in my perspiration, eyes wide and unseeing, laboured breath coming in short gasps.

'The memories leave me an emotional wreck. They always do, and yet, I find myself not wanting to forget.'

Chapter 3: The Party

Rei shifted around uncomfortably, attempting to land his body in a more comfortable position. The wooden seat was stiff and rigid, not at all adapted for someone to sleep on. Unfortunately, he had no where else to go, for turning back was not an option.

"Damn it," he cursed under his breath, eyes squeezing shut momentarily.

He was beginning to feel the stirrings of dull pain pressing heavily against his chest – the result of missing Kai – something that he was adamantly denying. After all, only idiots would miss someone who lacked facial expression.

Rei felt tears pricking at the corners of his eyes, threatening to spill over the brim and trail down his cheeks. He reached out a hand hastily to wipe away the accusing droplets of water. He was not going to cry over that sad excuse for a team captain, a friend.

However, given the circumstances, Rei was sure he could safely say that Kai was no longer a friend, or anything else that he may have hoped. He certainly did not like Kai in that way.

How could he? Kai was such an unfeeling bastard, someone people would label as being 'virtually carved out of ice'. A long time ago, if anyone had said that about Kai, he would have stuck up for him, taken on a fight if need be. Not now. Not anymore.

Rei dipped his head down, pressing it against his neck as his arms came up to wrap themselves about his torso.

Firm words as they might have been, the bold declaration went against the burning pang running through his body, went against all the signs he was showing that he still felt for his captain. It did not justify his constant thoughts, thoughts that revolved resolutely around Kai, lodging his mental image quite firmly in his mind's eye.

Rei tilted his body to the side, groaning softly as the wooden seat dug into flesh. The image stuck, and got clearer.

That guy was plaguing his thoughts, refusing to let up by keeping a tight leash on everything that Rei attempted to do.

What had be been thinking? What had he been playing at anyway? Why had he gone ahead and made a swipe at him, even with the secure knowledge that doing so would shatter their already fragile friendship into a thousand irrevocable pieces?

Rei had known all along, that he wished their friendship ran deeper than that. He just chose to ignore the blinding fact. He knew that he admired Kai right from the start, attempting to strike a comfortable friendship with him. He knew that he had grown to like Kai as more than that though, as more than just a friend.

Now though, those feelings were gone. He did not harbour any more of those nonsensical thoughts. Kai would, starting from this moment, be erased completely from his life. Kai would mean nothing more to him - not in a platonic manner, not in any other manner.

After all, he was a teenager and he had hormones. Those hormones had just been going in the wrong direction. Kai was just a crush. Nothing more. He had fallen in 'love' with Kai, and now, he had fallen out. It was as simple as that.

Honestly.

He had spent more time than considered appropriate deliberating over this matter, and now, he wanted to take a break.

Sleep was a welcomed solution, though hardly feasible, much to his annoyed frustration.

His shoulders still hurt from the cutting back strap and the only two things that prevented him from sinking into the seat and succumbing to a much longed for slumber was the knowledge that he would suffer from a backache the following morning, and the fact that his mind was stuck on the issue of Kai. It was a horrible predicament that Rei Kon had gotten himself into.

He squirmed further down the inflexible wooden seat, praying that he would not wake up stiff, aching and utterly miserable in the morning. Managing, somehow, to block out any further thoughts from his head, he fell asleep at one in the morning.

-

Kai was staring out of the window once again. He seemed to be doing a lot of that lately - just staring out of the window. There would be no expression on his face, for there was no reason to laugh, or smile, or even entertain a light smirk.

Even at this hour, Kai Hiwatari found himself unable to sink into bed and sleep, for the room was too quiet.

He had found himself miss listening to the even breathing of Rei, a soft; barely discernible light inhaling and exhaling of air. He found himself thinking wistfully about the soft creaking of the springs in Rei's bed when he rolled over to achieve a more comfortable spot, or when he snuggled down further beneath his sheets, nuzzling his pillow contently, letting out a purr as he did so.

Hell, he even missed the incessant hum of Rei's hairdryer, a sound he once found highly irritating.

Operative word: 'once'.

Not any more.

Kai moved away from the window, his arms unfolding to brace his fall as he threw himself on his bed. He found it amazing how one person could affect him that much.

Why did he have to do stupid things that he could not take back? Stupid things that made him ache uncomfortably, stupid things that gave him a burning urge to whack himself, hard. He shook his head slowly, amazed at how he managed to reach new planes of stupidity where Rei was concerned time and again.

What had possessed him to do that?

He tossed and turned on his bed, another flashback slipping unbidden into his befuddled mind. This was another memory that he was sure had assisted in making Rei blow up, throwing the situation vastly into perspective. This was another heart wrenching memory that he desperately wished for the chance to change, to be given a second attempt at to alter history's events.

This was another reason that had lead to the finale of Rei's departure.

He released a quick breath that came out as a hiss, his eyes sliding shut before opening tiredly again.

If only he could turn the hands of the clock back and do it all again, noting all the previous mistakes and avoiding them. Maybe then he could change it for the better. Maybe then he could make it work.

But what happened had happened, and nothing he could do would change that. Nothing ever will.

What hurt him the most, at this point, was that he never had gotten the chance to apologise.

Kai studied his watch impatiently. It was 15 minutes to seven, and the party began promptly at 7p.m.

"Tyson! Hurry up and haul your ass out here!" he yelled, using his balled up fist to pound rapidly against the wooden door.

"Coming! I'm coming!" Tyson hollered back while struggling to pull on a pair of jeans he had found lying at the foot of his bed.

Kai grunted in frustration. Will he never change? Tyson had a terrible knack for always doing things at the last possible moment.

He swung around to head back to the hall, and came face to face with Rei. They were but centimetres apart, and Rei's amber orbs were filled with alarmed panic, shock and something that, oddly enough, resembled apprehension.

It had been so long since he had seen Rei face to face like that. True, they lived in the same house, but Rei was very highly skilled at dodging him. But now, now, Rei was practically nose to nose with him, staring him straight in the face. Kai acted instinctively.

"Rei, I -" Kai began, reaching out to grab Rei's hand, intent on making him listen to what he had to say.

Rei's eyes hardened, disgust taking over. With a feral growl, Rei slapped Kai's hand away before it touched him. The force of the slap was hard enough to stop Kai from another attempt, enough to let Kai know his confrontation was not wanted.

He brushed past Kai, and within three seconds, was out of sight, the last strand of his ponytail disappearing round the corner. Kai bit down on his bottom lip and closed his eyes tightly.

"Kai?"

His eyes snapped open. It was Tyson, and he was searching Kai's face anxiously.

"Are you -"

"I'm fine. Let's go."

Kai followed the path that Rei had taken, leaving behind a worried Tyson.

Tyson sighed softly, a sound only audible to himself.

When would Rei forgive Kai? When would they accept each other and become good friends again? When would they become more than just good friends?

He made his way leisurely to the living room where everyone was waiting for him, pondering over a problem that seemed almost impossible to solve. Not when two extremely stubborn, strong headed people were involved.

Kai stepped into the living room, stealing a glance at Rei. At that same moment, Rei glanced up from his conversation with Max, a smile on his lips. His eyes met Kai's. The smile disappeared.

Fiery crimson eyes stared back at him. The mere intensity of that look made him keep on staring. He couldn't break away, not even if he tried.

It was not to say he was not trying.

Kai's feet came to an abrupt halt. They were trapping each other with their gaze without meaning to. But that did not necessarily mean they did not want to.

The sound of the hired bus coming to a stop outside their motel made them break their gaze, shaking them out of their respective reveries.

There was an awkward silence during which no one looked at each other and Chief paused his typing, afraid to break the tense moment.

"Get moving," Kai ordered, stalking out of the front door himself.

Tyson, Max and Chief heaved a sigh of relief, but Rei just narrowed his eyes in annoyance. Who did Kai think he was, to be ordering them about like they were below him; he had some nerve.

When they got on the bus, they noticed that all the other teams were already on board. Ignoring the exuberant yells and outright rude comments bouncing off the walls of the bus, Rei glanced past the energetically waving hands and spotted Kai, head bowed, arms folded – at the very back.

So now their captain was too good for them? Did he not deem them worthy enough for him to deign to mingle with them? It was not a problem though. He had no qualms with sitting with his old team.

Mariah waved him over excitedly and patted the seat beside her that she had saved specially for him. He gave a small grin and walked over.

Kai glanced up from where he was seated at the back, only to growl under his breath.

He had sensed Rei glancing over at him, and for one breath-taking moment, had imagined that Rei was going to walk over to him and sit down. They could talk like the old days; patch their broken relationship bit by bit; become friends once more. And then, maybe Kai would be able to gather up the courage to turn that friendship in something more, if not just stronger.

Could Rei not see that Mariah was devious? That Mariah was a cheating, lying no good piece of scum? She was not worth Rei's time. Why couldn't Rei see that? Mariah was practically all over Rei, flirting openly with him.

Kai felt his hands clench into tight fists. He gritted his teeth, heels digging into the plush carpet of the bus deck. Mariah was so close, a few more millimetres and her lips would be touching his. His teeth grated against one another.

Rei laughed, amber eyes lighting up vividly, sparkling. Of all the times Rei had to be ignorant, it had to be now, when he was in the clutches of Mariah, did it not? Kai knew that muttering under his breath did nothing to help his case, and that the longer he stared at them would only serve to infuriate him even more. But no matter how many times he told himself that, even if he saw the truth in what he said, he could not stop himself.

Finally deciding that he could not take anymore of this, he stood up, intent on walking over to them and showing Mariah a thing or two. She should know better than to mess with him.

Unfortunately for him, the bus had reached its destination and as it rolled to a stop, everyone started picking up their bags and alighting. Kai sat down abruptly, surprised by the turn of events. But at least now Mariah was not going to do anything to Rei. He turned around to find Rei and Mariah going down the steps of the bus, Mariah clinging on tightly to Rei's arms. Both of them were laughing and smiling cheerily.

Kai felt slightly nauseous.

This was going to be one long party.

Idyllic staring had never been a valued past time of his, and that was all he seemed to be doing around here. The party that Mr. Dickenson had arranged for all the prominent beyblading teams was a complete drag. It involved socialising, for one.

He stifled a yawn as he drew further back into the shadows a little more.

This was an utter waste of valuable time, and he had better things to do. Things like…letting his mind wander, it immediately settled on Rei.

After that incident where he had accused Rei of being a little more than something with Mariah, and after Rei had slammed the door in his face, Rei had been feverishly avoiding him.

For one entire week, Rei had been avoiding him. It was painfully obvious, and Kai detested it with every fibre of his body – detested the torn looks and the annoyed narrowing of eyes, detested the abrupt departures and sudden silences, the awkwardness of how Rei acted around him, detested helplessly watching as their tentatively amiable relationship debilitated into an uneasy association.

He had always thought that he, being the loner at any function, was the best at hiding away from people. But now, Rei was beating him at his own game. Now he knew why Tyson was so frustrated whenever he declined their request to have a 'team bonding session'.

He had even gone to the extend of switching rooms with Chief, just so that he would not be sleeping in the same room as Kai, which meant lesser time to be spent with Kai, and thus a much lesser chance of confrontation.

The first time he had woken up to the sound of Chief's erratic typing instead of Rei's peaceful purring had left him shocked and just a tad wounded, even if he would never admit that to anyone. He had been furious, to say the least.

During trainings, meals, free times, Kai had attempted to talk to Rei to even out all the misunderstandings brought upon by that day.

But during trainings, Rei had always cut him off by saying that it was break time, or that Drigger needed more defence, or that he wanted Max to fight him.

And it was virtually impossible to get him alone at meal times, as Rei cooked the meals and sat down last, and he left his seat the last too. If Kai had finished eating first, which happened more often than not, he would sit around the table and drum his fingers against the table, shooting sharp, unmistakable glances at Rei to make sure he knew he could not runn forever.

As a result, Kai's meals became longer and longer as he sat waiting for Rei to stop pretending to be talking to Chief and leave the table so that he would be able to get Rei all alone. He knew Rei was pretending, damn it. But Rei would sweep up all the dishes once everyone had left the table and enter the kitchen, locking the door behind him immediately. And all this was down so swiftly and quickly that he was finished even before Kai could get one word out of his mouth.

Never mess with a neko-jin's speed.

Why was Rei avoiding him like the plague? Why was he blatantly ignoring Kai? What the hell had he done wrong, to make Rei so furious with him, to the point of avoiding any conversation whatsoever?

He leant further back in his seat and tilted his head backwards to get a better view of Rei. God, he was obsessed. Surprisingly, Mariah was not latching herself onto Rei's arm anymore. In fact, she was no where to be seen.

For the first time in a long while, Kai smiled. Then, he heard voices, nearing him. Making sure that he was well concealed by the velvet curtain that he had been hiding behind ever since the start of the party, he leant closer to eavesdrop.

The voices were distinctly Mariah's and Lee's.

And they were discussing what seemed to be his favourite topic lately - Rei.

"And so I told him that Rei was preparing...," he heard Mariah squealing.

And much to his anger, he heard the shrill laughter of Mariah mingling with the sound of Lee's harsher tones.

"What did he do then?" Lee urged her.

"He hung up."

Both of them burst into strident laughter once more.

It appeared that they were talking about the telephone conversation that he had shared with Mariah. Kai felt annoyance twist in his stomach.

"But you didn't really...do it with Rei right?" Lee questioned in a curious after-tone.

"Of course not," Mariah dismissed the ridiculous notion with a wave of her hand, "he's totally Kai's. Just that Kai has some major issues with acceptance. Honestly, in all my years as a matchmaker, I've never came across such a stubborn idiot who ignores the truth even when it is practically staring him in the face. Seriously...boys can be so dumb sometimes. "

Kai was so stunned that he nearly fell off his seat. Rei wasn't lying then. He was truly innocent.

He felt like kicking himself. How could he have been so dumb? Mariah was right. He deserved all the insults that she threw his way, and more, truth to be told. He should have trusted Rei. He should have believed everything that Rei said.

He growled deep in his throat. He was going to find Rei and apologise to him. How could he have been such a moronic, fat-headed asshole?

He got up from his seat, so driven was he by his new found enthusiasm to find Rei that he did not notice the knowing look that Lee and Mariah shared.

So focused was he on his mission that he did not hear them speak, their topic changed.

"Do you think he'd make it better? Rei has been pretty down lately."

"He'd better. I don't work my ass off to get them together only to have Kai destroy it again."

-

"Rei…Rei?"

Rei was sprawled all over the bar top, a glass half filled with alcohol clutched loosely in his right hand. He had been drinking?

He snatched the glass away, sliding it out of Rei's reach so fast the liquid sloshed messily over the rim, spilling onto his hand.

Rei mumbled something incoherent and glanced up at Kai, amber eyes glazed over.

What did he think he was doing? And what was he mumbling anyway?

"Drink...give me..." his speech was slurred. Clearly, he was drunk.

Oh, right. His drink.

"Rei, I forbid you to drink. It's not good for your health. No more. Do you understand? No more." Kai spoke deliberately slowly, as if communicating with an irascible 3 year old.

Rei shook his head stubbornly, his lower lip beginning to tremble. He was...no way. Was he…was he about to cry?

"Drink." His pout was so adorable that Kai nearly gave in.

"NO!" His voice was so forceful and loud that Rei shirked away from him, looking terrified. Kai felt himself softening immediately.

Rei was in no condition to carry on like that.

He stood up, slinking Rei's right arm around his neck, pressing Rei's body tightly to him with his other arm. Calling out to Tyson, Max and Kenny, he informed them that he was heading home first with Rei. Max had made a worried move forward, but Tyson had dragged him back, reassuring him that Kai was more than capable of taking care of Rei.

Rei fell asleep half way there, his head rolling on and off Kai's shoulder.

The bus driver was surprised to see them, but taking one glance at Rei, he nodded and drove them back to the hotel.

Throughout the ride home, Kai sat stroking Rei' s silky black bangs out of his closed eyes, watching in mild fascination as the smooth strands slipped easily through his fingers, flopping adorably over closed eyes once more. Obstinate. Just like the owner.

And beautiful. Ethereally so.

People of Kai's calibre were considered hot; gorgeous. They were looked up to and gossiped about. But in his opinion, people like Rei were by far more deserving. True, they might not be considered extremely handsome, but they exuded an aura of cool confidence, and of mystical background. Their mere uniqueness set them apart from the rest, a notch higher. To Kai, Rei was unreachable.

He clutched Rei tighter; as if afraid that he might just disappear into thin air. He pulled his hand from Rei's hair, placing his arm carefully around the slumbering teen's shoulders.

The bus came to a stop outside the motel. Kai nodded to the bus driver before sweeping Rei of his feet, literally, with one hand around his shoulders and the other under his knees. Rei groaned and opened one eye, his arms wrapped around Kai's neck. Kai kicked the front door open and was about to switch on the light when Rei yelped and screeched to be put down.

Kai placed him on the floor, watching Rei's eyes widen in confusion.

"Where am I?"

"Motel."

Rei snarled. "You brought me back?"

It was such a drastic transformation from the drunk Rei just moments before that Kai paused for a moment before nodding. He felt the need to explain himself as Rei glared at him with daggers in his eyes.

"You were drunk. And you wanted to drink more. It wasn't good for your health."

"Why do you give a damn Kai? Why do you give a fucking damn anyway?" Rei's eyes were but slits now.

"Because-"

Rei cut across him.

"Why don't you let me drown my sorrows in alcohol?"

He shook his head, repulsion etched clearly in his face.

"Forget it." He spat.

He spun around and was about to head to his room when Kai grabbed his right arm, halting him in his tracks.

He turned around to face Kai again.

Kai looked like a wreck. The pained hurt in his eyes; the obscure confusion that blatantly proved he had no idea what he had done wrong, nearly made Rei think twice about leaving him there without an explanation

"What sorrows?"

Rei wrenched his arm from Kai. Did Kai not know? Did he really not understand?

Or was he just playing with him?

"I hate you." Each word was hissed out, laced with pure unadulterated anger.

Then he was gone, leaving Kai with more questions than answers.

If Kai did not understand before, he did now. He was the 'sorrow'. He was what caused Rei pain. He was so stupid.

He bit his lip and turned his head from the window. How would staring at the window help get Rei back anyway?

Stumbling into his bed, he fell into a restless sleep.

At 1:43 a.m., Rei found himself awake once more.

Why couldn't he just fall asleep?

He rose from his make shift bed, arching his back as he did so. The sore muscles stretched with a satisfying crack.

Rei walked to the edge of the bus stop, a cool breeze hitting him. It whipped his braid back and played with his bangs, teasing and tossing the raven fringe as it filtered through them. Rei smiled softly to himself. He hadn't felt this contended in a long while.

He glanced up at the night sky and was delighted to see it dotted with twinkling stars. Stargazing. He'd always loved stargazing. It was so peaceful; so soothing.

Ever since his childhood days, one of the first things he remembered about the olden times was his love for stars. How his parents would tell him everything they knew about each and every constellation. And they knew an impressionable amount.

In fact, no one he met knew as much as them, or him, about stargazing. That is, until he met Kai.

Kai. The name resounded in his head.

He was having a good time stargazing. Why bother bringing Kai into it? Why bother creating new problems, when he thought that he had left all behind by leaving? Why bother making himself disheartened?

He steered his thoughts in a different direction. It was too close to home. Too close to memories. Too close to pain.

Stargazing. Right.

But somehow, something felt wrong this time round. Something felt amiss; like when you placed a book in the wrong shelf, and you knew it, but were too bothered to rectify the mistake.

Could it be Kai's absence? It could not, right? After all, he had spent all day trying to avoid even thinking about him.

But even that was not enough to eradicate his traitorous line of thought. He still remembered the time when he found out that Kai enjoyed stargazing as much as him, if not more.

Rei was sitting all alone, enjoying the view of stars vastly spread out in the vacuum above him. They were so pretty, like the little diamond studs that women liked so much - bright and beautiful. A smile graced his lips as his mother's voice echoed through his head, the anecdotes behind each constellation weaving itself in his memory. He missed the pleasant lilting tune that her words flowed with.

"Who knew little Rei-Rei liked stars." The tone was teasing but pleasant.

Kai?

He whipped around. Sure enough, Kai was standing there, back straight, white scarf billowing behind him - the epitome of greatness, in Rei's very much biased opinion.

"What are you doing back here then?" Rei taunted back.

Kai faltered.

Rei let out a laugh. It was fun to play with Kai. Well, when he wasn't in Mr. Ice mode, that is.

Kai sat down beside him, hands clasped around his knees. There was a comfortable, amiable silence. Rei smiled softly to himself. He wanted this moment to last forever and ever.

"That's Leo. The sign of the lion. Great people come from that sign. Like me." Kai said, breaking the silence.

Rei let out a surprised laugh. Who knew Kai had a sense of humour?

"That's the Big Dipper. It's a group of bright stars in the sky. Its looks like the cup and handle of a water dipper, hence the name. It includes a mizar which is a double star, situated at bend of the Big Dipper's handle. And see that two stars in front of the Big Dipper? They're pointing to the North star." Rei countered.

Kai frowned. Astrology...astrology... What had they been taught at the abbey at astrology? He was not about to let Rei outwit him.

His face brightened into a smirk when all of it came rushing back to him.

"The sun is the nearest star to earth. It is 93 million miles, which is also 150 million kilometres, away."

Kai glanced at Rei triumphantly.

Rei pouted.

"The ancient Egyptians believed that the sun hatched each day from the egg of a heavenly chicken!" Rei finished with a smirk.

Kai frowned.

"You made that up."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not."

"Did too."

"Did not!"

"Did too."

"DID NOT!"

There was a pause.

And then -

"It was a heavenly goose, not a chicken!"

Both of them glanced at each other, before bursting into surprised laughter simultaneously.

Rei smiled to himself, before walking back to his seat and falling asleep again, this time peacefully.

Everything would work out fine in the end.

Everything would be alright.

-

End Chapter Three