Standard disclaimer applies-
'Footsteps twirling in perfect tandem, making graceful circles amongst the carpet of leaves that spoke of the coming winter. Rosy cheeks stung by passing winds, breathless laughter accentuated by eyes brightly lit with mischief. Hands clasp firmly as one, tugging, pulling, resolution to stay firm long gone because it was you.
'Drag me into the middle of the yard, throw dignity out the window, ignore what others say, even if they shake their heads in disapproval, or toss their heads in condescension. Draw a bold red line through my perfect record, willingly, because it was you.
'Rip my heart to shreds, let emotions rule my mind for once. Tattered pieces of my detached image do not matter. And the tears. Tears that I have not shed since I was a mere kid, even after all I have been through. Tears that slip unbidden from my eyes now, because it was you.'
Chapter 8: One
Rei stepped out of the confined space gingerly, meeting Mariah's critical gaze with his own tentative one.
"No." Mariah dismissed at once, throwing another outfit at him.
He sighed heavily in defeat.
"Mariah, this is like, the hundredth outfit you're making me try." He pleaded. Seriously, he did not think that he truly deserved this. He was pretty nice, and had not cheated or done more wrong than the next guy. What was wrong with justice?
"This is the thirty-eighth outfit. Don't exaggerate. Now go and try that one." She gave him a none too gently shove into the changing room, slamming the door loudly behind him.
Rei buried his burning face in his hands, resigning himself to his ill fate, swearing never to take advantage of his student's inability to count properly and short change them of promised sweets.
Fifty-seven outfits and thirty-nine dollars later, they were finally done. Mariah had chosen an outfit that she and Rei could agree on, while keeping to Rei's strict budget of forty bucks.
Mariah rolled her eyes expressively. How was he expecting to look good in forty bucks and the first items of clothing that his hands happened to grab? Honestly, she could never figure out men. They were supposed to be the determined and persistent ones. Didn't Thomas Edison come up with the light bulb after a million failed attempts? How could men give up after a mere few minutes? Sometimes, they were so difficult to comprehend.
Beside her, Rei cluing tightly to the single paper bag in his hand, almost as if afraid that Mariah would change her mind, as she had the previous fifty-six times, and demand that he troop back and try on more clothing. He did not wish to find out what Mariah was muttering under her breath, because she was rolling her eyes dramatically and her hands were flying through the air wildly, and when Mariah was like that, no one went near her.
There was a significant thud as Mariah stopped short in the middle of the asphalt sidewalk and let go of her shopping bags abruptly before proceeding to dash to a nearby shop display window and press her palms flat against the glass, her eyes shining with exhilaration.
Rei felt a shiver of consternation race through him.
In the display window laid a pair of Italian designed leather pants. Mariah gazed fiercely at the sinfully insinuating pants before letting her eyes fall back upon Rei. She smirked - saccharine sweetly, all the while advancing surreptitiously towards Rei.
Not good. Every nerve in Rei's head was going haywire.
"Rei…." Her voice was sugary – obviously, to cover up the inner iniquity lurking not so far-off behind. He was not fooled.
Rei winced and backed up step by step, countenance taut with trepidation.
"Oh no you don't…." To his chagrin, it sounded more frantic than definite and authoritative, as he had intended it to be.
He kept on backing away as Mariah sustained her approach with a hazardously disarming grin that just screamed danger. He bumped right into someone.
There came a shocked intake of breath, and then, "Rei? Is that you?"
Rei spun around on his heels, coming face to face with Tala and Bryan. He had to bite his bottom lip hard to keep in the stunned gasp that threatened to escape. The encounter was a brush of reality to close for comfort. Their presence only served to jog his memory, reminding him of the basis he was here and, undeniably so, Kai. He could not stop himself from wondering if Kai was here with them. His head was pounding.
"Tala? Bryan?"
Mariah came up from behind him, snapping Rei out of his reverie.
"Hey. Rei, Mariah, long time no see."
Mariah and Tala, the more social of the two, began exchanging pleasantries, and the status quo on their current lives. Rei had spaced out after the first few sentences. Stark reality still had his head gyrating wildly.
He glanced at Mariah, her face aglow with excitement, and then at Tala, who was regarding Mariah with an amused expression. As Rei turned away, he felt Bryan's steely gaze on him. He looked up at Bryan in surprise. Bryan stared right back at him. The heated conversation he had overheard between Kai and Bryan came back full force at him, along with its implications. He felt his cheeks heat up and knew that he was blushing.
He averted his gaze immediately, concentrated fixedly on his shoes, an action that was transparently out of place. It was only a few minutes, but to Rei, it was a tangible, uncomfortable eternity that went on and on. He shuffled his feet together. With out glancing up, he knew that Bryan's stare had never wavered. In fact, the intensity only increased.
He felt highly uncomfortable. And then Mariah was tugging at his arm, waving cheerily goodbye to Tala and Bryan, announcing that they had more shopping to do. Tala had laughed out loud at Rei's wince. He raised a hand in acknowledgement. Rei did not miss Bryan's impassive gaze that never left this face, and Tala's knowing smirk that turned the corners of his lips up. Rei frowned. It made Tala look like he was plotting something.
Tala shook his head slowly, the smirk omnipresent.
"Kai is going to flip when he finds out." Tala commented. Bryan noticed the lavish amusement and glee coating his words. One would think that he was getting some kind of perverse pleasure out of Kai's and Rei's dilemma.
"Or at least have a mild heart attack." He added as an afterthought.
"Flip when I find out what?"
Tala and Bryan turned around to see Kai with his hands folded across his chest, looking rather uninterested. Tala's condescending grin that spread across his face morphing into an expression akin to glee.
Kai gave him an apprehensive look, as if uncertain as to whether his previous decision of questioning his friend was still sane, when Tala was obviously was in one of his moods.
"Rei's in town. He just went that way."
Kai's jaw went slack in a rare show of emotion and for the first time in his life, Tala noticed that Kai did not look full of himself. Then Kai lunged forward in the direction of Tala's outstretched forefinger, only to be held back by Tala, who had grabbed a hold of his scarf from behind. Whirling around heatedly, Kai sent Tala the most intimidating glare that he could mange.
"Let me go Tala." He growled from the back of his throat, voice hinting at homicide.
"No way. You'll just go after Rei and mess everything up." The laughter was absent from Tala's voice.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
"Rei still hasn't got things figured out. You should have seen how he looked when he saw us. Obviously, he would be absolutely unprepared for anything that you're going to throw at him. You'll just end up scaring him away."
"As you did the last time." Bryan added rather maliciously.
Kai ignored him. He gave his scarf a hard tug from Tala, freeing himself from Tala's grasp.
"And…he blushed when he saw Bryan." Tala threw in, watching with amusement as Kai's cheeks flushed a shade of interesting red, blatant proof of the inner turmoil he was having.
He shot a last glare at Tala and Bryan, a glare which lingered longer on Bryan, warning him to just try anything…., and then turned back to the direction in which he came from, alabaster scarf swinging wildly behind it's owner.
Tala and Bryan watched him go. When Kai was safely ten metres away, Bryan finally spoke.
"You shouldn't have said that. You know as well as I do that Rei wasn't blushing at me for any reason that you insinuated and that obviously went through Kai's head."
"I know, I know. I couldn't resist. Hell, he probably figured out what those non too discreet stares you gave him meant."
"Like you're one to speak - King of obvious."
"Hah. My appalling art of discretion aside, we're in for a wild ride of rollercoaster amazement. The joy of seeing those close to you getting together. Denial is born once more."
"You're one evil bastard Tala ."
"I know."
Anyone walking past that particular tract of pavement at the moment wondered about the sanity of a certain read head, who was engaged in the raucous act of throwing his head back and howling with laughter.
-
That bastard. That absolute bastard.
He was pulling moves on Rei. And Rei didn't want them. Bryan was mistaken. Horribly so. Rei hadn't changed. Nothing had. Right?
Naturally.
Then why did his chest tighten uncomfortably at the mere thought? That bastard.
'Watch out kid! Honestly…young people nowadays!' Kai stepped over the old woman's rolling apples and continued manoeuvring his path through the crowd.
And still he hesitated. Why hadn't he wrenched his scarf out of Tala's hands and chased straight after Rei and demand an explanation for his absence for the past few years? Both he and Tala knew that if he had really wanted, Tala hanging onto the end of his scarf wasn't even near stopping him from going after what he wanted.
And yet he had not done so.
Why?
Because deep down, he had believed Tala's words. He was scared. Terrified that things had changed. That he had dropped out of Rei's life, and was no longer wanted. What if he had?
He didn't even want to think about it.
Turning sharply, he let himself into the house, tossing his keys on the kitchen table.
Tyson bounded up to him.
"Kai! You're back. Finally. The main party is about a week from now, but I've organised a small get together for just the Bladebreakers tomorrow. And that means everyone. I still can't believe that Kenny agreed to come. I mean, every time I hint at a gathering for old times sake, he cuts me off by saying that he is pretty tied up at the moment and cannot join us. Sad huh? Come to think of it, I think the only reason he agreed was because Rei would be coming. I think he really misses Rei. And I don't mean in a merely platonic manner…Kai? Hey Kai!"
Max came from behind Tyson, who was staring despondently at Kai's door, smiling sadly while shaking his head.
"You knew that Rei is still a touchy topic with Kai. Why did you do that?"
"It was a joke Max. It wasn't like it was my fault or anything."
"Tyson…"
"What?"
"Never mind. C'mon, let's go get a present for Rei."
"Okay!"
Inside the room, Kai slumped onto his bed, features shaped into a grimace.
Throw Kenny into the mix…great. Just bloody great.
Rei stood in front of the mirror, frowning at his appearance. He squirmed uncomfortably, trying to make the clothes less, well…less clingy. He swore that Mariah had somehow done something to his clothes to shrink them. Never mind the fact that his clothes were in his possession the entire time. He tugged at the opened collar in front, brows creasing.
The black collared shirt that he wore, and the red slacks that went with it clung around places that he did not want them clinging to. It was too provocative. He did not want to be seen like that. What would Ka- his team think? Gah…who would have thought that he had become so fat in such a short period of time?
The door swung open. Without taking his eyes off his reflection, Rei knew who had just entered.
There was a muffled gasp and Mariah had thrown her arms around from behind him, smiling proudly.
"Rei, oh Rei. You're grown up, I'm so proud of you."
He shrugged her off his shoulders, uncomfortable by the fact that Mariah could probably feel every muscle in my body. What happened to personal space? And what was that bastard Lee smirking about? This was his wife here, with her arms around another man, and he had the nerve to stand there grinning like the idiot he was. And as his best friend, he was completely immune to his fiercest death glares.
"I've grown fat."
There was a strangled choke from behind him, no doubt from that good for nothing traitor. Rei tried reaching his legs out to kick him, but Mariah had let out an indignant squawk, forcing him to look in the mirror. Jabbing viciously at his stomach and chest, she glared at him.
"Kon, Rei! Are you stupid, or are you blind? Tell me, which part of you exactly has got fat?" Golden eyes flashed ominously, and Rei wisely opted to put up a show of slipping into serious contemplation. He realised the façade was unfounded however when Mariah did not pause for his answer, choosing to enlighten him.
"Years of running around among hyper children and through the mountainous landscape have moulded you into a muscled young man, and the past years have lost you your baby fat. Honestly Rei, sometimes you're so ignorant you make me worried."
Rei drew himself out of her reach, still not satisfied with her explanation.
"You never see Rei concerned about his appearance in China. Do you know why Rei's so conscious suddenly? Do you know why he has chosen this moment, as opposed to say, the past seven more years, to spend time deliberating over his appearance? Do you know why, exactly, our dear Rei is so troubled?"
Rei picked up the nearest weapon, his fallen shirt, and rolled it into a ball, aimed directly at Lee's smug face. He didn't know for certain what Lee was going to say, but he had an inkling, and it wasn't a comforting one. Lee turned his smirk on full blast, his mouth parting slightly to reveal the pointed canines inside.
"It is because of Hiwa-"
"Lee….I don't want to punch you…"
"Hiwata-"
"This is your last warning…"
"Hiwatari K-"
"LEE!"
"Hi-"
A black blur shot past Mariah, and Lee was taken down onto the floor, both of them rolling around on the floor over each other, aiming to top the other. They became a mass of wildly swinging limbs, till Mariah could not make out one from the other.
Lee managed to get a good kick at Rei's shins, coming up for a breather.
"Hiwatari KAI!" Lee yelped triumphantly, sounding like a cat that just got the cream.
Tragic, really, because that would be his last words.
Kai traced a finger around the inner circumference of his cuffs. He hated collar shirts, but Mr. Dickenson had arranged for the dinner to be located at an up-class buffet restaurant, and there was a dress code to adhere to. Staring at his mirror image, he chose to let his shirt tail hang out. With his hair falling messily over his eyes and curling slightly outwards at the nape of his neck, and donned in dark blue jeans covered slightly by his over hanging white shirt, he would be getting more than his usual fare of open stares and gaping mouths.
But the only mouth he wanted falling open and the only pair of eyes he sought to grab the attention of was that of Rei. There. He said it. He was past denial.
He detested the growing trepidation that constricted his chest, blatant proof of his nervousness. Kai did not think that he had once bothered about his appearance to this degree. Damn.
He wanted to make a good second first impression.
Tyson tapped the toe of his shoes against the wooden floor, clicking his teeth together edgily. His tolerance was near point zero, and right now, it was just about used up. Max shot Tyson minute glances, careful to keep check and make sure that Tyson did not implode, in this circumstance a high plausibility. He chose to ignore the fact that the incessant tap of sole on wood was getting rather exasperating. Tyson flipped his wristwatch up for the umpteenth time, eyes tracing the digits that flickered across the screen. Kai was…five minutes, 24 seconds late, and counting.
Kai was never late.
What was he doing in the room anyway? Did he fall asleep? That could not have happened. Hiwataris did not fall asleep randomly. They conducted themselves with the utmost lucidness, and to fall asleep would be unthinkable. Perhaps he chickened out at the last minute because Rei was going? Hah! Same concept, even more improbable. Then what? Tyson lifted his feet off the floor, counted to ten, and continued to tap his feet, this time in succession, one foot before the other.
"That's it."
He leapt out of his seat with wrought determination, taking purposeful strides to Kai's room. Max hurriedly stood up and scrambled after him, chair screeching against the floorboards as he pushed it back. He had to be present to make sure that Kai and Tyson did not have one of their conflicts, making them even later then they already were. What would Rei and Chief think? Ex-team mates who have not seen each other for over seven years, and they had the gall to come late.
Tyson reached out a hand to rap against the door, when it swung open, revealing a slightly ruffled Kai. Max had to stifle a grin. Someone had obviously taken painstaking efforts to look his best…perhaps, for Rei? Their relationship stood some chance yet. Before any words could be exchanged, Max had grabbed a hold of Tyson, pulling him forcibly out of the door, yelling over his shoulder at Kai to hurry up.
"Don't try or say anything funny. Try not to make things awkward for Rei and Kai alright? Did you see how Kai was dressed up? Don't try anything funny, or anything to make us feel an emotion remotely near embarrassed, like piling your plate with food, or making non-too subtle hints. Do you understand me Tyson Kinomiya?"
"Who, me? You must have gotten the wrong guy Max." Tyson blinked innocently, mentally crossing out the hogging of the buffet table and the helpful push that he had planned for Kai and Rei.
"I'm serious."
"Geez…alright. I understand. Leave them alone? Gotcha. But don't come complaining to me when Kai does something stupid again."
Max parted his lips to retort, but by then Kai had the keys in the ignition and was frowning at them.
He was late.
Rei couldn't believe it. The first meeting since forever; the first time he meets any of his team mates from the time when he ran away, and he was late.
It was all Lee's fault. Mariah made him change out again and iron the clothes and then she had combed out his hair and plaited it and then made him change back into the ironed clothes. And Lee lurked somewhere in the murky depths of the background, openly laughing at his predicament. He was the one who started the argument. Lee paid completely no heed to the numerous warnings that he shot in his direction.
As he rushed down the streets, clothes billowing out behind him, Rei kept his mind occupied from panicking by trying to picture the team's individual reactions.
Chief would probably have brought along Dizzy, but knowing Max and Tyson, they would have confiscated it from him and made him talk to them. They would be catching up, and Chief would try to get them interested in the department he was working in, so that one of them would pass Dizzy back to him so that he could show them more into the development of the current project he was working on.
Tyson would probably sidetrack through the spiel and complain loudly how terribly hungry he was and probably cursing him too. But he would not be able to start first, because Max would lecture him about respect and how you were supposed to wait for people and that he had not been in Japan for such a long time that he had plausibly gotten lost and it was not Rei's fault. He could even picture Tyson's pout and whine of protest.
And Kai, oh damn –Kai. He would be sitting in his corner, head tilted downwards, shutting off the rest of the team. Looking as impossible as ever.
Rei twisted his body to slide in between a couple, yelling sorry without turning around. Late. No one liked being kept waiting. Tyson would blast his ear drums off. Kai would not comment on it, but he was sure that the death glare was still as effective as it was in the past. Max would offer him a gentle smile and tell him not to worry about, all the while hanging onto the end of Tyson's clothes. Chief would be on the other side of Tyson, clocking his timing, and giving him a slight reprimand.
He wondered how they looked like now. Certainly, they would not look the same. Adults never shared their same appearance as when they were once teenagers.
He turned down into the street which tapered into an endless stream of brightly lit shops selling an array of items, and dimly lit restaurants to give off the desired ambience. The place was alive with people.
He stopped in front of the building. It was dark inside; so dark that he could not depict anything. But the clinking of glasses and the low murmur that originated from the interior proved there were people within.
Rei resisted reaching up to smooth the creases from his clothes, chiding himself. What was there to show? It wasn't as if they were going to be interested whether he wore creased clothes or a neatly ironed one.
The door clinked open and for what seemed like the hundredth time, Tyson, Max and Kai glanced up to eye the person that had just entered. Chief was absorbed in his laptop, which had started singing horribly when taken away, and was thus hurriedly forced to return to him. Tyson did not want to be thrown out of the restaurant.
Through the dim lighting, Kai caught the swing of hair behind the person, hair so long that it could only mean one person. He lowered his head slowly, not wanting to meet Rei's eyes. It would be awkward; much too awkward. And besides, if Rei turned his bright amber irises on him, who knew what stupid things he would do, like choking on air or one of those uncomfortable situations that he seemed to get into when in the near vicinity of Rei.
"REI KON! YOU'RE LATE!"
Tyson leapt up from his seat excitedly, reaching out to grab Rei and drag him under the lights.
"Rei!"
He met the eager gaze of Max and…the mess of hair that belonged to Chief. They were taller, no denying that, but apart from that, their features had pretty much remained the same. And of course, they had lost the baby chubbiness from their cheeks. An inexplicably warming feeling coursed through him, and he smiled. He had almost forgotten how great it was to be around them. It had been a hell of a long time. He missed them so much.
"Hey Max, Chief. Long time no see eh?"
"Too true." Chief shook his head, thinking how time had passed since they were all last together.
"Woah…looking great eh Rei? Why the sudden interest in dressing u-ouch! Max! What was that for?"
"Huh? What was what for? I didn't do anything." The innocuous façade was on full blast. Max stole a glance at the immobile Kai, finding himself actually wondering if he had gone to sleep.
"Don't lie to me." Tyson did not sound too sure of himself though.
"I won't lie if you remember what you promised me before this." Ah…the look was gone, replaced with a levelled gaze that had Tyson gulping.
"What! This has got nothing to do with before."
"Oh ye-"
"Okay guys. Break it up! Geez, I don't know how you people managed to survive without me for so long. Man, you guys are so lucky that I'm back." Rei was smacked on the head by Max, both of them laughing.
"Right Rei." Tyson rolled his eyes.
"Anyway, moving on to more important things…FOOD!" Cheering, Tyson leapt up from his seat, charging towards the buffet table.
Max and Chief hurried after him, worried that he would clean out the food, it had happened before, and thusly get them thrown out of the restaurant.
Rei shook his head, missing the old days. It was so wonderful to see them once more. He got up from his seat, his eyes betraying him by looking towards Kai. The words spilled from his lips before he knew it.
"Coming Kai?"
And then, as if realising what he did was taboo, he spun around hurriedly, moving towards the buffet table.
Kai raised his head, only to see the tail end of Rei's braid swinging after him, out of view. Kai's mouth was parted slightly, and he was grinning.
-
Rei stepped out to get some fresh air. He was completely bloated. That was enough to last him a week. The sky was an inky black, and chilly air blew across his face. He closed his eyes, smiling contentedly. The evening had gone rather well, from Max placing half of what Tyson had taken back onto the trays, to the three of them managing to get Chief to part with his laptop. Just like the old days.
There was a movement from behind him and before he could respond, Kai was beside him. Rei held his breath, almost afraid to spoil the peaceful silence that they shared. His body tensed up. How they managed to get this comfortable after all that happened he was not sure, but he was about to question it.
His eyes shifted to Kai, taking him in. Kai had been training, that was for sure. He had kept himself in tip top condition. He looked really really good. Piercing hurt flashed through his heart, and he found himself wondering if he would ever be good enough for Kai.
"Can you see the stars?"
Starting from the sound of Kai's voice, he glanced up towards the night sky as well. God, he had missed that voice. Be it to yell at them or say something pleasant in one of his almost non-existent convivial moments, Kai would always sound…he didn't know, just like he was trying to pick them up or something. With that attitude to match, Rei was falling all over for him again.
If he thought back in China that he could forget Kai and start his life all over again without him present, he was sure that could never happen now. None of his constant dreams and wandering feelings could match up to reality. Kai, standing right next to him, still had his head reeling.
The stars twinkled down cheerily at him.
"What are you doing here Rei?"
Rei did not know whether Kai was referring to Japan, or outside. He wasn't even sure why Kai wanted to pretend that nothing ever happened, but if he wanted it that way, Rei was fine with it.
"I'm enjoying the scenery."
Kai looked around. Dustbins, parked cars and trees lined the streets of Japan.
A plastic bag rolled by.
"Interesting. I had no idea you missed Japan so much."
Was that supposed to be sarcastic? Rei could never figure him out. Even after so long, Kai was as much an enigma as ever. One would think that Kai could only hide so much.
"Yeah. I missed the Bladebreakers too. I was thinking about you guys on my way here." Rei had no idea what he was talking about himself. Why did he always turn into a blubbering mess when he was around? What kind of stupid answer was that anyway?
"Oh really? What did you think of about me?" Shit. He did not say that. He did not. Please, tell him he didn't. Kai felt like hitting himself. Stupid.
"I thought about you being surrounded by fan girls." What the ?
"Is that jealousy I sense Rei?" Kai prayed fervently that that did not warrant him a death sentence. Was that teasing too far out? Was he entitled to joke around like that while their relationship was still this unstable? Once upon a time, he would not have thought to consider that.
Rei choked.
"The hell? Of course it's not!" Rei swung around to head back to the restaurant, silently fuming. Everything was going really well, and Kai just had to say that didn't he? That letter was a dumb idea. He wasn't ever going to leave letters when he left again. Now he was certain that Kai had read the letter. And he was maximising its potential to torment him. Rei felt humiliated.
The sound of leaving footsteps passed, and Kai really did hit himself this time, annoyed at himself.
What the hell had he said? That had got to be the dumbest thing he had said in his entire life. Could he never learn to do it right? Why did he have to provoke Rei every time they met?
And he didn't even get to say what he had set out to in the first place.
He didn't get to tell Rei he looked stunning.
-
End Chapter Eight