A/N: Hi, here's an update, hope you'll like it. Thanks for the reviews :). Don't forget to review this one too and tell me what you honestly think about this story. Constructive criticism will be highly appreciated so if you find any errors please correct me for I wish to improve my writing skills.

Disclaimer: I own nothing but the storyline and my own characters.

Warnings: hints of shounen-ai.

Despite all his unwillingness to go to the party, Rei found himself standing in front of his full-length mirror wearing his best suit, trying to fix his unco-operative hair. He could not believe he was actually doing as Bryan had told him. And he did not forget to scold himself for that constantly as he still did his best to look decent. Finally he gave in and decided it was useless. His hair sure had a will of its own. He glanced at a clock on his wall. It was almost eight.

"Ah, aren't we looking pretty," a colourless voice commented from the doorway, making the ebony-haired teen turn to face its owner.

"How did you come in?" Rei questioned the redhead poisonously. Now he couldn't believe he had totally failed hearing the intruder come in. The said intruder just flashed him his extremely self-satisfied smirk.

"Well, you know…" Tala said, leaving the rest of the sentence for Rei to figure out by himself.

The Chinese boy turned back to the mirror, trying his best to resist the urge to attack the other boy, "Where's Bryan?" He decided to give his hair one more chance.

"Who knows…" Tala snickered as he saw Rei's reflection raising him an eyebrow, "I guess he had something important to do… said he would meet us at the party," now the boy walked behind the other. Rei's delicate fingers stopped shaping the hair for a moment as he glared at the taller boy through the mirror, his target remaining completely unharmed.

"Shouldn't you have asked where he was going?" the boy asked gruffly, his fingers continuing their evidently hopeless task.

"It did cross my mind…" Tala said contemplatively, his blue eyes glued to Rei's golden ones, "but then again," his eyes moved to observe the younger boy's form through the mirror, "we don't need Bryan…" now the fingers of his right hand trailed down an imaginary line from Rei's shoulder to his neck until they reached his chin and turned his face towards Tala's.

Rei was entirely frozen, just waiting for what the older boy was up to, "Don't get any ideas…," he whispered, making the Russian smirk slightly.

"Bryan said you looked like shit," Tala's comment startled the Chinese boy, leaving him gaping at the redhead unable to react to what happened next. Tala fished something from his pocket, "And I must agree with him but don't worry…" now Rei saw what he was holding. It was a make up stick, "A little bit of my magic and everything will be just fine."

Soon Rei was looking at his reflection again. The dark bags under his eyes, caused by the lack of sleep he was having, were completely vanished. And you couldn't even tell he was wearing make up.

Tala smirked smugly, "Am I good or what?" Rei was sure he didn't really expect him to answer that.

"Thanks," the ebony-haired teen didn't forget to be polite even when he had to try his very best to make up some good reasons as to why he shouldn't just kill the other boy. He walked past the Russian, heading to the door, "We'll be late if we don't hurry," he informed the other boy who just smirked and quietly followed him.

-----

The two young criminals were standing at the doorway to an enormous hall filled with people, most of them with not so clean records. They both were scanning through the mass, Tala trying to spot Bryan while Rei was trying to decide where would be the best place to ditch the Russian whose company wasn't wanted.

"Ah!" Tala's exclamation broke the silence just as Rei was about to make his graceful disappearance into the crowd. The redhead tugged at the younger boy's sleeve, motioning him to follow as he started walking towards the other side of the room. The Chinese teen frowned slightly but decided it would probably be for the best if he obeyed. By now he had started accepting the fact that he had come to the party but now the thing he could not believe to be true was that his escort was none other than the person who had killed the love of his life. Actually he felt like he never wanted to even see Tala again after what he had done. However, being the smart boy, Rei understood life didn't work that way. Not for him at least. "Bryan!" Rei snapped out of his bitter thoughts and noticed they were now standing in front of the lavender-haired Russian.

"Excellent timing," the oldest boy remarked smirking. Tala returned the smirk, leaving Rei just glaring at both of them. Bryan straightened up from the wall he was leaning against, "Now, we have an important meeting so try to behave," he started heading towards another room connected to the hall, Tala and Rei following close behind. Rei decided the comment was meant for him but was too pissed to argue about it.

In the other room there were two huge couches in the middle of it leaving a coffee table between them. As the three approached the couches, an about middle-aged man stood up, looking at them sharply.

"Good evening," Bryan greeted with such uncharacteristic courtesy Rei had troubles in keeping his eyebrow from rising. It was obvious the lavender-haired boy knew the man they were talking to since he didn't introduce himself. The middle-aged man merely nodded his greetings at Bryan before looking at Tala.

The red-haired boy had taken a civilised look on his face and now he offered his hand in greeting, "Tala Valkov," he said smoothly. The man shook his hand firmly and turned his eyes on Rei.

Rei forced a smile on his face as he nodded, "Rei Kon," The man smirked and turned back to Bryan.

Rei noticed that during their negotiation they never got to know the man's name but he didn't let it bother himself since obviously Bryan and Tala didn't care either. On the other hand though, maybe they knew who he was. After all, they had always been the ones to handle these kinds of things while Kai and Rei did most of the dirty work.

Their negotiation with the man didn't last long and Bryan did most of the talking which Rei was really glad for. Every now and then Tala would say something as did Rei when asked questions. All in all everything seemed to go pretty well. At least the parts that Rei was paying attention to. Perhaps too often he found himself thinking of things that were definitely not suitable for the moment. Like would Kai have liked the party. He would have hated it, Rei decided. Kai had always been a loner and very crowded places had made him feel uncomfortable. But naturally he would have never shown it to anyone. He would have just been the elegant, composed himself acting like a real gentleman until he and Rei would have slunk out without anyone noticing anything.

Rei snapped out of his thoughts, a small smile playing on his lips. Luckily he noticed the others were too concentrated in their discussions they hadn't seen him spacing out. Or perhaps he had this ability to look interested while thinking about something completely different from the subject.

Suddenly Tala and Bryan stood up, obviously planning to leave. Rei quickly followed their example and after shaking the man's hand he followed the two Russians back to the main hall. He had to admit he had no idea whether they had gotten the box sold or not. And frankly, he didn't even care. Now that he had done what was asked for he was perfectly ready to go home.

"Hey um…" Tala and Bryan turned to look at the neko-jin, making him flinch slightly at their cold expressions, "I think I will go home now so…" he managed to say.

Tala raised one of his red eyebrow a bit while a smirk found its way to his lips, "Oh, no you won't," Rei gave him a questioning look. The Russian gave a short laugh, "Eat, drink, meet people… have fun for once," he offered though it sounded more like an order. Rei sighed in defeat. He didn't feel like having fun at all. With a quick glance around the room, he doubted he would even enjoy this party. He didn't even know half the guests and the ones he did know he didn't like or knew they didn't like him. When he eventually looked back at Tala, he found the boy still smirking. Bryan was being his usual cold self.

Then Tala turned his eyes to look past Rei, his smirk broadening slightly. He grabbed the younger boy's arm and started dragging him with him as he made his way to meet some of his old friends, "Oliver!" a young boy with bright green hair turned his face towards them, a little smile rising to his lips.

"Tala, it's been a while," the boy turned to fully face the three approaching boys. So did the person he had been talking to. Tala just nodded at them.

"You've met Bryan," the redhead motioned towards Bryan briefly, getting a nod from both the other boys, "and this is Rei Kon," the hand moved to point at the Chinese boy.

The green-haired boy smiled at Rei, offering his hand in greeting, "Nice to meet you, I'm Oliver," he said as Rei answered the handshake, "and this is Enrique," now the boy tilted his head a bit towards the boy standing beside him.

"So, you're the famous White Tiger," The boy by the name Enrique said.

Rei didn't like this, "Uh… yeah, but it's not–"

"But of course it's a big deal!" Enrique announced, cutting the neko-jin's sentence, "I've heard so much about you, you know…" the blond-haired boy trailed off. Then he suddenly grinned, "It's just impossible to avoid the subject that's on everyone's lips."

Rei blinked, "R- right…" Tala smirked at the uneasiness written all over the boy's features.

That didn't slow the two younger boys down. Now Oliver had gotten a too interested glint in his eyes, "So, is it true that you once jumped down from a ten meters high roof without getting a scratch?"

Rei blinked again, "Well… that's a bit exaggerated…"

Oliver sighed and closed his eyes for a moment, "Thought so…" then he opened his eyes again. Now they had a serious look in them, "Say, there has been a rumour that… your partner is dead. Is that true?"

Rei merely stared at the smaller boy in front of him. So the news had spread already to everyone. After a moment of silence, Rei closed his eyes, "Excuse me," he said before turning on his heels.

"Don't mind him, he's living in denial," the boy heard Tala's smug voice tell the others.

Rei had hardly taken two steps before he came to a halt due to two older-looking boys stepping in front of him. They both were taller than him and they were looking down at him, both having similar, cruel grins plastered across their faces. They also had exactly the same kind of tuxedos on them, except for the other was black and the other pure white. The boy dressed in the black tuxedo had black spiky hair and dark grey eyes that just screamed danger. The other one had long, so light blond hair it was almost white. His eyes were piercing cold shade of yellow and full of cruel amusement.

"My, what did we just hear…" the boy with black hair spoke, amusement colouring his low voice, "I wonder what the Kitten will do now when the legendary Phoenix isn't there to protect him," a low laughter rose from his throat as he raised a hand to cover his mouth. Rei just gazed up at the two in sheer astonishment, not capable to say anything although the words had hurt his pride, as he was sure they were also meant to do.

Then suddenly the two walked past the Chinese boy from both his sides, leaving him between them. The blond one, however, stopped beside him, leaning down close to his ear, "I suggest you watch your back carefully for someone might want to take advantage of this," his dark, husky voice told just loud enough for everyone close enough to hear. Then they were gone, leaving Rei standing there stunned. Had he just been threatened?

"Who-" Rei turned to look at the now beside him standing Tala who looked surprisingly serious. Bryan was nowhere to be seen.

"Elia and Zack (1), or as they like to call themselves, the Sun and the Moon," Tala told without looking at him. He appeared to be deep in his thoughts, "They are pretty new to this field but I've heard they are to be taken seriously," he muttered, "they are described dangerous," now the redhead turned to look at him with the usual smug smirk on his face, "but I highly doubt it."

Rei stared at the Russian for a moment before resuming his movement towards the bar. He really felt like having a few drinks now. However, he never got to the bar since soon there was a hand on his shoulder, turning him around to face Tala once more.

"May I have this dance?" the red-haired boy asked, the smirk still dominating his features. Rei noticed the orchestra had started to play waltz.

"No, I'm going home," the ebony-haired teen said and tried to leave but Tala's hand was still holding him firmly in place.

"No, we're dancing," with this the Russian pulled Rei close to him. Rei sighed but decided that resistance was useless, "You know," Tala's voice drifted quietly into his ear, "you should change that attitude of yours, you hardly smile anymore," Rei raised an eyebrow at the boy. Tala ignored him and pulled him even closer so that the younger boy could feel his breath in his ear, "I'm saying you shouldn't show them your weakness…" now his voice had died into a whisper, "feelings are weakness."

Rei wasn't exactly sure of what Tala was saying, "By them…do you mean the Sun and the Moon?" he asked.

Tala shook his head quickly, "For your own good, please, don't ever let them see how much you miss Kai," Now his whisper was barely audible as he turned around, bringing Rei with him. Now the ebony-haired boy came face to face with Bryan who was standing about twenty meters away from them, his back leaned against the wall casually. Their eyes locked for a moment until Rei was once again swirled around so that Bryan could only see his back now.

Rei looked up at Tala, tying to understand him but the boy's blank expression gave away nothing. The Russian didn't even look at him as he pushed the younger boy away, turning his back on him, "Now, you can go if you wish to," then he disappeared into the crowd. Rei turned around to find that Bryan was also gone.

Rei had to admit he hadn't expected Tala to warn him like that. Then again, Tala had always been a bit difficult to understand. At least Rei was now free to go home and he was also very willing to do so.

(1) I added my own characters, Elia and Zack, here for I really couldn't see any of the Beyblade characters in those roles. But no worries people, they won't have that big a part in the story, they are here mostly to support the plot. Hopefully you don't mind them. Oh and, they are mine and therefore not to be stolen!

A/N: Thanks for reading, now please review :).