Chapter 1
Hiding in the shadows Kai quietly made his way to his destination, but the closer he moved to it the more he felt the urge to look over his shoulder. He could feel another presence nearby, but every time he turned around he couldn't see or hear anything. Someone was definitely following him; he knew it even if there wasn't any evidence of such a thing.
Growling lowly in the back of his throat he made a sudden turn down an alley in hopes of losing his stalker. A brick wall blocked any exit for escape, at least for a human it did. Effortlessly he jumped onto the edge of the wall and looked behind him. Still there were no signs of him being pursued.
Glaring Kai remained unmoving, waiting for whoever was foolish enough to try and follow him to reveal themselves. The minutes ticked by and he stood there as still as a statue, the only part of him moving being his long white scarf whenever a breeze blew by, giving him a majestic look as he stood there under the moonlight. When his pursuer didn't reveal itself to him he grunted in annoyance and jumped down onto the other side of the brick wall, landing gracefully.
It didn't matter anyway. It wasn't like he cared if someone saw him with the boy. If someone saw him with the boy and decided to kill the boy then why should he care? That boy had been a nuisance since day one.
X.X.X.X.X.X.X.
"S-stop i-it T-Ty!" Max screamed as he tried to hold back his laughter.
Two children who looked around five years old lay on the floor of the dojo tickling each other mercilessly. At that moment the blue-haired boy was straddling his blonde friend's waist and was tickling his sides, causing the blonde to laugh so hard tears were forming in the corner of his cerulean eyes.
With what little strength his body possessed the blonde pushed the blue haired boy off him and began giving him the same treatment, receiving many surprised squeals from his friend. "Give up Ty!"
"N-no!" Tyson shouted stubbornly. Tears brimmed in his eyes as his sides began to hurt from laughing too hard. His lungs felt like they were going to burst, but he wouldn't give up no matter how much it hurt. Determined Tyson tried to switch their positions, but in the middle of the switch the blonde managed to roll away and escape Tyson. "Maxie!" Tyson whined and pouted at his friend.
Max in response stuck his tongue out at Tyson. "Like I was going to let you tickle me more Ty-Ty." Hearing those words Tyson lunged at his best friend and once again pinned the blonde to the floor and attacked his sides. In response Max squealed and tried to roll away again, but Tyson's hold on him was too strong.
"Tyson, Max," A voice from behind the sliding door called before the door open and a teenager with hair the color of the blue morning sky, and amber colored eyes that seemed to hold a gleam to them, and lightly tan skin stepped into the room. Glancing around the room the teen took in all the damage the two children had caused, luckily there wasn't any. Relieved to see the room hadn't been destroyed the teen turned his gaze on the two kids and firmly stated, "You two have to be in bed in half an hour."
The two kids groaned in disappoint at the order. "Hirooo," Tyson whined as he looked up at the older boy with tears in his eyes. "Do we have ta? I wanna play with Maxie. Pretty please, can't we stay up later? You'll be the bestest brother in the whole wide world. Please?"
Hiro fumed at his brother's antics. Did they have to go through this every time? When would Tyson learn that he could not stay up later? "No," Hiro's voice left no room for argument, but Tyson being a child didn't notice this and kept pestering his older brother.
"But Hiro! I just wanna play with Max a tinsy tiny little bit longer. Please Hiro." As Tyson continued to beg he didn't notice or care that he was upsetting Hiro. "Please? Please? Please? Please? Please?"
By now Max started to join in with the begging. "Please? Please? Please? Please? Please? Please? Please? Please? Please? Please? Please? Please? Please? Plea-"
"I said no!" Hiro shouted at the two, who instantly recoiled away from the loud voice. The two younger boys were holding each other's hands and shaking both afraid that making a sound would trigger the older boy's rage at them.
Regret and guilt settled over Hiro when he saw his little brother and Max filled with terror, and it was all because of him. He wanted to kick himself right then. Slowly Hiro kneeled down so he was eye level with his brother and called Tyson over. At first the little boy didn't move, but when Hiro called again Tyson careful walked over to his brother. Once Tyson was in arm's reach Hiro embraced his brother and whispered to him comforting words. "Sorry about that, Tyson. I've just been really stressed out lately with this project from school and your stubbornness isn't helping."
"Stu-born-ness?" Tyson tried to sound out the strange word. "What's that?"
Hiro remained silent for a moment pondering the best way to explain the word to a five year-old. "It means you won't give up, or change your mind easily. Sometimes it can be a good thing, but other times it can be a bad thing."
Tyson nodded his head in understanding and pulled away from his brother and bowed his head in shame. "I'm sorry for making you hate me Hiro."
"I don't hate you Tyson." Hiro sighed in frustration. He really needed to teach Tyson the difference between anger, dislike, and hate, but right now he had to get back to studying for a test he had that week. "I'll be back in twenty minutes to help you two get ready for bed, so until then you can play." With an enthusiastic nod from Tyson Hiro left the room, leaving the two children alone again.
Smiling Tyson turned to face his friend, but frowned when he saw the gloomy look on the blonde's face. "Maxie?" Tyson questioned, and the second after he spoke Max held his arms spread out wide a silent invitation for a hug. Without a thought Tyson jumped into his friend's arms and hugged him for all the blonde was worth.
As the two pulled apart Max smiled at Tyson. "Sorry 'bout that Ty. I don't like when people yell and I get really scared. Thanks for hugging me, it made me feel much better."
A smile lit up Tyson's features at hearing Max's words. "Well come to me whenever someone yells and I'll hug you."
"But Tyson," Max's voice was laced with worry, "what if I can't find you?"
"You'll find me!" Tyson tried to reassure the blonde. "I'll prove it to you too. We can play hide and seek. I'll hide and you seek. If you can find me then that proves you'll be able to find me no matter what."
Max eagerly agreed to Tyson's test. He wanted to find out if he really could find his best friend no matter what.
Opening the sliding door that led to the backyard Tyson gave his friend one of his hugest smiles and said over his shoulder before closing the door, "Remember Max you have to count to ten, and no cheating."
Max giggled at the thought of cheating. He liked and respected Tyson too much to do something like that. "Alright Ty. One……. Two……. Three……."
Scanning the yard for the perfect hiding spot Tyson smiled when he spotted a bush not far away and made a dash for it. Half way through his run however he felt a prickling sensation in the back of his mind and turned his head in the direction of another group of bushes and saw two crimson orbs staring at him. His smile grew at the sight. His friend was back after leaving a while ago. He couldn't wait to ask him where he went and what he did. He was just so interesting and Tyson couldn't get enough of him.
The next few seconds were like a horrible blur for the boy. Pain shot up his foot as he tripped over a stone by his feet that he hadn't noticed since he had been too busy staring at his friend. The wind roared in his ears as he cried out and closed his eyes preparing himself for the fall that was sure to come, but it never did.
Cracking his eyes open a bit they instantly widen when he saw his friend standing there holding him in his arms. "Kai!" Tyson shouted in excitement and flung his arms around the older boy's neck. Nuzzling his head in the crook of Kai's neck he murmured barely above a whisper, "Missed you."
"Six…. Uh what comes after six again? Oh right, seven," Max's voice rang through the air.
Without a word Kai walked over to a tree and settled Tyson on one of the lower branches, so the little boy could jump down if he chose, but it would also make it extremely hard for Max to find him. He was about to leave Tyson there, but seeing a sad look on the boy's face he ruffled the boy's hair in a friendly way, causing the younger boy to giggle. Seeing the boy was happy again he disappeared from sight before Tyson could blink.
"Ten!" Max shouted, "Ready or not Tyson here I come." With that said Max slid open the dojo's door and stepped outside into the cool night. He looked around the yard but there was no trace of Tyson. Frowning a little Max walked over to the closest bushes and looked through them but there was no Tyson.
A whimper escaped from Max. Maybe he'd never find Tyson. But if he never found Tyson then that meant he wouldn't be able to get hugs from him. Feeling helpless Max checked all of the other hiding spots he could find, but Tyson was never there. Tears formed in his eyes, but he didn't let them fall because if he did then Tyson would come out from hiding and that would mean he lost, which would mean he couldn't get hugs.
"Ouch!" Max cried out when something hard hit him on the head and then fell to the ground. Crouching down the blonde picked up the offending object to find out it was a smooth black rock. Since when did rocks fly? He was pretty sure only birds could fly, but this rock could fly! Maybe there was a race of flying rocks that were planning to take over the world by hitting people on the head! He had to tell his mommy and daddy!
Max was about to run in the house and tell the world about how the flying rocks were planning on taking over the world, but before he could do anything he heard something behind him. Turning around he saw a tree and right next to it was another smooth black rock. Now the rocks were planning on attacking trees too! What did trees ever do to rocks?
Running over to the tree Max picked up the other rock and examined it. It looked like an ordinary rock, but maybe that was part of its master plan for taking over the world? Another sound caught Max's attention but this time it was the rustling of leaves. Looking up into the tree Max saw his best friend and smiled. "I found you!" Max jumped up and down while Tyson laughed.
"Yay you found me! So that proves you can find me whenever you need a hug," Tyson said as he jumped down from the tree.
Max was still bouncing up and down. "Yay! But Ty guess what!"
"What?"
"I found two flying rocks!" Max announced and struck a heroic pose.
"Really!" Now Tyson was bouncing up and down. "Can I see? Can I see? Can I see?"
Max nodded his head and was about to show Tyson the flying rocks in his hands when Hiro's voice could be heard calling them. Pouting Max put the rocks in his pockets. "I'll show you tomorrow."
"But I wanna see now," Tyson whined, but followed his friend back into the dojo.
X.X.X.X.X.X.
Rei grinned as he watched the two children enter the dojo. He had been the one responsible for the "flying rocks" as Max put it. He couldn't help it however. Seeing the blonde on the brink of tears and knowing it was Kai's fault for why the poor boy couldn't find his friend made him want to even the playing field. If Kai could help Tyson then he could help Max. So he threw rocks to help the blonde find his friend and it worked.
A low deadly growl came from behind the raven haired boy, and Rei shuddered. His life was going to be a living hell from this day on.
"Rei," The voice was venomous and held an under current of ice and daggers, and was a warning of what was to come.
Rei gulped. Yup, Hell.
X.X.X.X.X.X.X.X.
Akira: Anyone remember this scene? I' m sorry this took so long but- passes out
Mimi: carries Akira away from computer, puts her on bed Sorry about that everyone, but Aki-chan has been preparing her room for her friend who lives in another country and is coming to live with her for four days. She's been cleaning and moving furniture all day and still isn't done. She has also entered one of her moods twice this week, and they tend to take a lot out of her. Also because of her friend's visit updates might not be made for a while, but she is trying so please be patient with her.
Akira: talking in sleep Mine… my mallet… must run… don't touch red button… GIGANTIC PLUSHIE!