I should state this: I'm a review whore. So more reviews probably means quicker updates!

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Just a Game

Damn You!

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Anticipated hush fell on the bladers; most were interested as to what the Dragoon's response would be, while inwardly their thoughts were conflicting with one another if they were asked such a question by the Russian Captain. Which would they rather lose: their hands or their precious blades?

A baffling question left them wondering if Kai would actually do it if given the choice to...

Really, was there any need to ponder on such a question as that?

Come on, you're talking about Kai here.

And, adding Tyson to the equation, the stoic leader would most likely do it in a heartbeat...

...if he was his old self, that is.

...Um, right...back to the situation at hand...

To say that Tyson resembled very much like a fish out of water was the best way to describe him the current moment.

Yes, 'a fish out of water' is an over-used cliché analogy but, honestly, that's probably the finest way to describe the dumbfounded bluenettte right now. Look at him; blinking continuously for the past minute and then stopping to actually contemplate over the question, and even before that, his mouth was set in an 'o'.

Could he appear any more obvious that the gears inside his head were actually grinding to work? You could practically hear the gears creaking to move slowly and steadily despite the constant need for oil maintenance.

"You have to pick one, Tyson" Hiro sighed after a few moments of silence, "It's not like it's going to happen."

"I-I know!" The younger Granger shot the older one a poor-excuse for a glare that a squirrel could've possibly done a hundred times better.

"If you know then hurry up," cerise orbs narrowed in slight annoyance. "You have five seconds."

"Okay!" Tyson threw his hands up in exasperation, "since I can't live without my hands or Dragoon, I chose neither!"

Complete utter silence.

Cricket would chirp if any braved the freezing temperature that was considered 'normal' in Russia.

"That wasn't an option," Hillary bluntly pointed out with a degrading 'You-can't-be-this-stupid' look thrown his way.

Ignoring the brunette, Kai confirmed with a question, "Final answer?"

"Ye-yeah..." Now the Dragoon was unsure with his response. 'Crap, I don't like the way this is going...'

That smile returned.

'Yep, I'm right on target. Someone up there just hates me! Just because I'm the World Champion, is what!'

"Failure to answer a Truth Question, Kai is allowed to give Tyson a penalty to his liking," Kenny spoke but then hastily added on after a glint went off in crimson eyes, "that doesn't include bodily harm, anything illegal, or anything that is deemed inhumane."

The slated-hair teenager's smile faltered the slightest bit, "Fine. Tyson, as a penalty, you have to say 'So let me have it now' at the end of the sentence."

...and they stared.

And stared.

You can interpret so many meanings from that phrase, ranging from innuendos to objects.

Ah, so well-thought out.

Then, some snickered.

"Wh-what?" Tyson sputtered.

"You heard me." Kai mocked. "You forgot to say it. Now say it. Unless you want another, I can think up of plenty..." He let the thought trail rather thickly despite his calm voice.

"So let me have it now" the other muttered, glancing away from the large semi-circle where more snickers and chuckles emitted.

"I can't hear you, Tyson" grinned Tala, an idea sparking in his pretty little head.

"Tala's right. We can't hear you," joined Johnny, sharing the same smirk as the other redhead.

"So let me have it now! Happy?" Tyson whipped his head, splitting his glare at the two and then added quickly, "So let me have it now."

The entire group grinned toothy ones, amused and quite frankly very entertained.

"Spin the bottle, Tyson!" Max chuckled as Kai rolled the bottle over to the glaring Champ. "And since you already have your turn, whoever is next get to spin!

Determined not to delight the others at his expense, he nodded and spun the now accursed bottle.

'Stupid Kai!'

Once again, the pretty blue Hpnotiq bottle spun and spun and spun, slowly halting to a stop...

"It's your turn, Mystel, so let me have it now" Tyson muttered as he rolled the bottle directly across.

The masked teenager grinned, "Thanks, Tyson. What do you want to have, again?"

A pair of blazing sapphire orbs glared into masked ones, daring him to continue while others snickered amongst themselves.

"Ri—ght, anyways, my turn!" he chirped, deliberately overlooking the daggered glares spiked his way.

Really, couldn't Tyson lighten up? It's only a game, so nothing would come out of it...unless one plans his move...

Going through the motion of spinning the object with enough force to his liking, Mystel took this opportune time to come up with Truths and Dares should it land on his intended target.

Mystel already knew who it would be. The other was acting in such a way that it was so damn obvious one might as well slap a blinking neon sign on him, stating 'I have a huge crush on the person sitting right of me!' Then again, he, himself, has a crush on a particular person in a very subtle way...

...at least he hoped so, anyways. But, what with him hanging around the other acting almost like an extra limb, although Mystel was capable of being away from the object of his affection when need be, did it occur to anyone that he was doting on the other being?

Ah, enough about his predicament, he can deal with that later. First things first, get a damn volatile reaction out of his planned target.

"Ah, Truth or Dare Rei?"

He was such a genius sometimes, though a speck when compared to Brooklyn.

"Oh, uh, Dare?" Rei blinked away his momentary stupor from supposedly staring at the very interesting plush carpet with a very perfect crossed legs out of the corner of his eyes; surprised it was his turn so quickly after---what? ---Two rounds? He didn't it expect it so soon. Whatever happened to probabilities?

The neko-jin better well be showering him with gifts galore when he's done with this. Like, returning the favor? The Chinese blader and he were pretty much buddy-buddy since they both share the same 'wavelength' of thoughts, so to speak.

Wait, did he choose Dare?

Alright, it makes things so much easier if not for that fact that it's...well, a dare, so maybe the other person won't take it as seriously...?

Oh, well, only one way to find out, right?

"Okay, I dare you to sit on Tala's lap until the game's over!" Mystel grinned underneath his mask.

Here comes another round of sputtering a 'What' and silence. Was there some sort of 'be-silent-when-dared-to-do-a-stupid-thing-and-painful-truths' virus going around that he wasn't aware about? It's happening a lot in a span of half an hour.

The silence was so uncalled for. His Dare didn't even measure up to a centimeter when compared to Tyson's moronic but hilarious Dare!

"You serious, Mystel?" The neko-jin continued to blink at the other disbelievingly. 'Is he joking!' Rei sneaked a glance at the redhead.

What he saw wasn't all that reassuring.

Tala was practically radiating an awesome aura of wicked intention that just screamed 'I'm going to molest you in every way possible without ever breaking my cool demeanor.'

Could one be horrified of that? And be down right pissed off at the same time?

...Whenever it's possible or not, that was what Rei was feeling at the moment. Horrified of having to go through with the 'Dare' that included Tala, however if it was any other person---aside Bryan, Spencer, and Ian---he could handle, but Tala? Why the hell him? Wasn't Mystel his friend? Didn't he know the uneasiness Rei was emitting off right at this very moment? Weren't they on the same 'wavelength'?

Oh, and that leads straight to his 'down right pissed off' part: Mystel was probably knowingly have done this to get a rise out of the Asian blader, and might he add he was doing mighty fine good job!

'But why'

"I did issue it, did I not?" The masked teenager asked innocently, subconsciously leaning towards Garland on his left, wary of the feisty kitten's claws. He was on the receiving end once, and he did not, by all means, plan to be there again.

Faintly twitching, Rei rose and somewhat stiffly crossed to the other side. Through narrowed amber eyes, he was determined not to show fear in the face of the danger named Tala. Unceremoniously dropping himself onto the person's lap, cautious of where, he crossed his arms and glared balefully at Mystel.

'You are so going to regret this, Mystel. Just you wait.'

Tala had to mustered up all his willpower not to surface a full blown grin, though if he did, the blue-eyed redhead had a feeling that he would be lonely in a matter of seconds, save for his team. To alleviate the glee that suddenly sprouted from Mystel's Dare and a certain pair of narrowed cerise orbs that could probably be a hazard to Tala's health; he opted to pull the blader fully onto his lap, positioning Rei in a correct position one would sit on another's lap. He intentionally left his left arm wrapped loosely about the neko-jin's slim waist, wishing for a rise from the one sitting straight across from him from the semi-circle.

...Maybe a blush from the kitty, too.

A small squeak was produced from the Drigger, very much startled at the action Tala had done, and instantly blushed.

'Fun, fun, fun!' was the repeated thought in the Wolborg's mind. 'I want more fun!' His frosty blue eyes danced about each bladers, each faintly flinching under his gaze, interpreting it as sealing their own fate should they ever mess with the 'kitty' before the Russian redhead.

'How do I get myself into these messes?' Rei inwardly groaned though he resumed his glowering at the masked blader, trying his best to ignore the loose around about his waist.

Rei had cursed the entities above; in a very similar fashion Kai had done earlier.

'I will not acknowledge that bastard' was the thought of a certain bluenette but then afterwards, he mentally smacked himself when he felt the squirting feeling called 'jealousy.'

Wait, him jealous?

Kai Hiwatari does not do jealousy. It wasn't even in his vocabulary and he wasn't planning to start now of all times.

Especially not for the neko-jin.

No.

"Your turn, Rei, so let me have it now!" Tyson was desperate to break the silence that had once again descended upon the group. Like he said before, forget dignity and pride when you have some warped-minded bladers that could probably douse the world in chaos if given the chance! Who knew! He sure as well wasn't going to risk it!

'Save the food!'

"What? A cookie?" Bryan spoke for the first time, smirking eerily at the midnight-haired boy who 'Meep!' and muttered something about mind-readers.

Nodding, Rei reached for the bottle and spun it and it somehow landed on Ming-Ming.

'Of all the people here...' Once again Rei cursed the ones pulling the strings up in Heaven.

Ming-Ming had chosen 'Truth' since she was so sure that Rei will make her do something degrading to her public image, so sure of the fact that those from the mountains were barbarians.

How...dare she! That was really uncalled for and truly---Robert favorite's word---uncouth.

The White Tigers, Rei, Mystel, and Daichi, all directed their scowl at the oblivious pop girl, resisting the temptation of literally throwing her out of a helicopter and into the jungle of abyss and see if she would survive for even a minute without the gazillions things she needed, making the world a happier place with one less mouth, one less being, one less face on celebrity magazines and one less obnoxious person.

If only life was that good.

Of course, it was to be expected when Kenny defended her. By what means, they didn't care due to all the blood rushing at their flared anger. Even Rei momentarily forgotten the situation he was in with Tala as with the grudge against Mystel.

He had to get her back for that insult. Okay, so Ming-Ming usually was and is a little thick-headed at times, so Rei excused any actions for that but this was taking it too far. Yeah, sure, he knew the others would be pretty shocked at his train of thoughts right now, but dammit, she was being insolent and very narrow-minded! Someone had to teach the pop princess a lesson in Reality World where everything was not handed on a damn silver platter!

"Alright," Rei said as civilly as possible through gritted teeth, smiling in the process though that made the neko-jin appeared slightly malevolent with his fangs, "Ming-Ming, is that your natural size or do you stuff your bra?" Note how he said that with the 'smile', enforcing the supposed maliciousness of his feline trait.

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tbc...

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Okies, I doubt there is any humor here aside a gleeful Tala. Mehehe. Ums, right, not exactly the best chapter of the 3, but you have to make due, kie? Still have no idea where this ficlet is taking me, but am hoping is a good joy ride! And remember, the group's going to plan more games aside Truth or Dares!

SANKYUU!

-EDITED (2/12/06)-

Changed the Truth. Instead of 'Are you so damn bubbly all the time', thanks to Astera Snape's comment, I went back and changed it to 'Is that your natural size or do you stuff your bra?' I was stuck until she reviewed, so hopefully, next chapter is next week! (Was procrastinating...and working on Naruto fics. Meh.)

-EDITED END-