Naxt part -
Been watching Japanese Beyblade. Kai does call Takao; "Kinomiya"… so I had to add it xD
Love to Shell, Janey and Chris.
"Oh my God! And then Draciel just… ricocheted off the edge of the dish and it came around SUPER fast and wham! It hit Dragoon just under its attack ring!"
"Yeah, well… the first few times Dragoon won." Takao added.
"I had to practice it first, Takao! Besides, you're just sore over the way I thrashed you!" Max laughed.
"To be fair," Kyoujyu cut in, "Max's new launch was excellent, if we keep practicing it, it may just give us the extra edge."
"Whoo! Hear that? Draciel and I are the team's new secret weapon!"
"Yeah, yeah. Well at least Rei still has faith in me." Takao grinned. "Right, Rei?" A small frown touched Takao's brow. "Rei?" He said again, louder the second time.
"Hmm?" Rei started as his thoughts were suddenly intruded on.
Takao's smile faded, concern flashing in his chestnut coloured eyes. "Rei, are you still not well? You've been quiet all day. You're okay, aren't you?"
Rei chewed the inside of his cheek, heart wrenching at the sweet concern Takao was showing him. He tore his eyes away, which made Takao misinterpret his guilt as embarrassment. "I'm all right, Takao, honestly."
"You sure? You seemed miles away, do you still have that headache?" Takao persisted.
Rei abhorred lying, but, seeing it as his only way to escape Takao's worrying, he forced a smile and raised a hand to touch at his forehead. "I'll be all right, honestly. I just need to have a sit down where it's nice and quiet." The partial truth, Rei felt much better about that.
Dinnertime had come and gone in the Kinomiya dojo, and presently the boys of the BBA Revolution –excluding Kai- were sitting at the table, discussing their training from earlier in the day. Rei stood, feeling extremely tired. "I think I'll go and sit in the living room for a while."
Takao nodded, concern obvious and Rei stood, moving to push his chair back into place. It was inevitably at that moment the kitchen door opened and Kai walked through. He looked up, eyes meeting Rei's, making Rei freeze in place.
"Kai! You missed dinner again!" Takao spoke up, drawing Kai's attention to the kitchen table.
"Yeah, Kai! I was telling everybody about my new launch!" Max added, excitement pouring off him in almost visible waves.
Kai moved towards a free seat and pulled it out, sitting himself down as Hiromi rushed to serve him up some dinner. "Was it successful?" Kai asked in a quiet voice as he reached out for a glass of juice.
Rei was thankful as Max threw himself back into his story, knowing it would be a good enough distraction to take his escape.
"Hey, Kai?" Takao suddenly interrupted Max's ranting. "What's that red mark on your face?"
Rei stopped dead, grimacing. 'Oh God.' Was the only thing that came to mind. Very slowly, he turned around, giving Kai his best pleading expression.
Kai stared at him a moment, before looking back to Takao. "Rei hit me."
Rei's heart stopped in his chest as everyone gasped, turning to look at him.
"Really?" Takao said, eyes wide in shock.
Max blinked. "Whoa, did you two have an argument?"
Rei gave Kai a helpless look. 'Please, Kai. Let this be the last thing I ever ask of you. Please.' He willed the team captain sitting across the room at him, staring right back.
Seeing Rei's desperate look, the other occupants of the room looked to Kai. Dark blue eyelashes slowly lowered and rose as he shrugged languidly. "It wasn't on purpose. I was standing too close behind him while he launched and I leaned in to suggest something as he pulled the ripcord and his elbow caught my cheek." He explained.
Rei released the breath that he had been holding as the other boys simultaneously released 'Oh's' of understanding, relief flooding through him. He owed Kai big time, and though that was like selling his soul to the devil, for the moment, Rei was just glad that the elder had complied.
"I'm going to go and sit down." Rei said quietly, before he turned and all but dashed from the room. When he reached the living room a few strides later, he flopped down onto the settee, grateful to simply be alone for a while. He heaved a sigh, thanking the Gods that Max's story, added to Kai's questioning and Kyoujyu's inevitable ranting would keep the others detained for a while.
He was so tired. His head was a mess and nothing was getting any clearer. Chewing on his lip, Rei closed his eyes, trying to sort at least some of his thoughts out.
Lips, so much softer and warmer than he would have imagined, pleasingly damp, but not sloppy just wetted enough to comfortably slide against his own. He stood still. In shock? Enraptured?
His mind was so muddled, swathed in a fuzzy heat that emanated from his own lips. He didn't know what he was supposed to do, but the touch was so soothing and so gentle. It silently encouraged him, letting him set the pace he wanted to.
Shyly, so shyly he pressed back against the comforting pressure, eyes dazed and unfocused, staring out across the rolling waves. He was pulled slowly closer, in a firm, but sweet embrace supporting his body and pressing it against a bigger, warmer frame that sent wave after wave of protective calm.
Lips parted slightly, and tongue, warm and wet pushed gently against his own sealed lips, coaxing them into opening for its entry.
He pulled back, fearful and startled.
"Shhhh…" The voice was so soft. "It's okay."
"I… I'm not… I don't…"
His fears were pushed aside, as the lips returned, moving against his in delicate whispers. "I know, close your eyes. Don't think… just do whatever feels right."
Comfort washed over him, and for the first time, he wasn't panicking over whether he'd be good enough. Though bashful, he slid his eyes closed, and opened his lips the tiniest fraction; the limits of his nerve. It was enough. That warm, wet tongue returned, pushing his lips open the rest of the way and swept in, gliding against his own dormant muscle, teasing it into playing.
He couldn't help but groan at the feeling. It felt better than he had ever imagined and he let himself go, giving in to the hand which had risen to the back of his head, pushing him closer. He let the kiss grow deeper, both slanting their mouths to reach maximum contact. The sensitive skin of his lips tingled with a pleasant electricity that ran to his cheeks, heating them in a blush, much like the colour of the others eyes currently sealed off to him as they left the world behind.
It was like, only they existed. All of his worries were gone. He hesitantly answered to the kiss, fearful that he would do the wrong thing, but the gentle pushing of tongue against tongue, touching and teasing, dancing and embracing reassured him. He knew he was doing okay. He knew he wasn't disappointing. His trembling hands moved without thought, coming to rest around a cloth covered neck, fingers finding themselves running through soft strands of silken hair.
A warm hand clasped against his hip, kneading even as the one at the base of his neck did. He couldn't help but moan as the heat between them made him feel light headed. In response, the kiss grew more passionate. His eyes fluttered, mind focused on the slick tongue mating with his and he trembled at the hot breath upon his flushed cheek.
Time stood still, he was overwhelmed as he was held, their music the surge and withdrawal of the ocean besides them, and soft moans from deep within sighing throats. In those long moments, he realised why people were so happy to kiss. It was utterly enthralling and it was beautiful and astounding and so many other adjectives used in an attempt to describe just how wonderfully perfect it was. His choice was made. He wanted this perfect creature. He wanted this being who had so beautifully stolen his first kiss. He needed him. As long as they both cared so much for one another, they could figure out the love part later on.
It was after what seemed to him to be an indefinable amount of time that they pulled apart and one last, chaste kiss was pressed to his moist, swollen lips.
His eyes flickered, focusing upon the mouth that had just left his, noting that the lips seemed fuller than usual. Gaze flickering upwards, he locked onto umber, so endlessly deep that he idly wondered if he would ever find his way back again.
He knew who he wanted. His mind had finally been made up. Takao would be a little hurt, but after a couple of days everyone would be happy.
Rei smiled, and opened his mouth, ready to tell the other his revelation.
"Rei?"
"Rei? Hey… Rei?"
Rei's eyes snapped open. "Wha…?"
Chestnut eyes dominated his vision, which made him start. Takao pulled back. "Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't realise that you were asleep. Rei, do you need to lie down? You're really flushed."
"I'm… I'm okay…" Rei whispered.
"No! You're not! Rei, I hate seeing you ill like this. Have a rest, can I get you a drink?" He persisted.
Rei bit his lip, heart giving that painful, guilty tug. "No, Takao. I'll be okay, honestly. I think I'll just have a lie down."
Takao's worry did not fade, but he still leaned in to press a soft kiss to Rei's forehead. He faintly heard Kai snort, which made him blush once more.
"Okay. Sleep well and feel better tomorrow." The Japanese said, moving away to allow Rei to stand.
Rei left the room without looking at anyone. It was rude, he knew, but he really couldn't face the rest of his friends. Once again, he needed to think. Once again he hurried through his night time ritual, and once again, he threw himself into bed and laid there, staring at the ceiling.
Kai had kissed him. And not just any kiss. Oh no. A proper kiss. A full on- tongue- in- the –mouth- knee- trembling- fuzzy- headed- whimper- inducing- emotional- hurricane- heart- wrenching kiss.
… His first kiss.
It had shown him… something… he didn't quite know what, but it had been something akin to how Rei imagined flying would be like. Something spectacularly sublime and selfish and intimate. He'd been so close… he was so sure that his mind had been made up.
And then Kai had ruined it all. Rei sighed and began to drift once more.
Rei smiled, and opened his mouth, ready to tell the other his revelation.
Kai however, beat him to it. "See?" The elder blader asked.
Rei frowned, confused. "See what?" He whispered.
"That you shouldn't be with Kinomiya. You're supposed to be his boyfriend, and yet you're happy to go and kiss me?"
"What… Kai?" Rei uttered, bewilderment clouding citrine eyes.
"You won't kiss Takao will you? And yet you'll kiss me. What does that say for your so-called relationship?" Kai pressed, looking haughtily at the younger.
A pang of hurt. "You… you knew that was my first, didn't you?" Rei whispered.
"You told me months back that you'd never been kissed, Rei, and I know that you hadn't kissed Takao because I heard him whining about it. It was a safe deduction." Kai said simply.
Rei's yellow eyes narrowed as anger began to bubble within him. "Then… why?" The sinking suspicion within him was telling him that Kai didn't care about him after all. That Kai didn't like him like that. That Kai had had a purpose…
"Why?" Kai looked surprised, before he frowned, continuing. "To show you how little you value your own relationship. To show you that you're not right for Kinomiya and to show you that you need to end this stupid little stint. At this rate, you'll break apart everything we've worked hard for. Are you really that selfish, Rei?"
Rei was trembling, his world was spinning out of control. Rei looked up into those self-righteous red eyes, eyes he had been so enthralled by and now disgusted him. "Selfish?" His voice was little more than a whisper, trembling under the strain. "Selfish?" he said again, voice rising. "You took my first kiss to prove a fucking point?" Rei broke, venting his fury at his team captain, voice taught with outrage.
"It needed to be done." Kai said simply.
He didn't see the fist until it connected with his right cheek, snapping his head back and making him stumble.
"BASTARD!" Rei screeched. "You son of a BITCH! We're done, Kai. You hate me, so fine, now stay the FUCK away from me. I'll do my own training from now on!"
With that, Rei had marched away, stubbornly fighting back tears. A single one broke free, trailing down his cheek, which he hastily scrubbed away. Everything had just come crashing down. Just when he thought things were starting to make sense, just when he was dared to believe that things would work out okay… it was even more of a mess than before.
As usual, the shower was the first thing that came to Rei's senses. Slowly, he opened his eyes, yawning as he did so. He was surprised that he had drifted off so easily, considering his inner turmoil. Perhaps he had simply been exhausted.
Realising that laying around would not be his best option, Rei rolled onto his stomach, burying his face into the pillow and letting out a short, frustrated shout. A fraction calmer, he flopped back onto his behind, sitting up. Not wanting to waste time, Rei pulled himself from his bed, quickly changing into his clothes and evacuating the room as quickly as possible. Though loath to admit hiding, Rei hung around just out of view in the corridor, waiting until Kai left their room to return to it to take up his usual morning ritual.
After his shower was done and his teeth and hair brushed, he took a few moments to simply stand in their room, chewing on his bottom lip. How could he face Kai now? On top of that how could he face Takao? The boy loved him and he had gone off and clung on to Kai with just the slightest encouragement!
But then… Kai had misled him. Rei had thought that Kai meant it and had been willing to give it a go with Kai. Evidently, he had not and Rei was back at square one. Lusting after someone who didn't care, and not loving the one who did the most…
That was it. He wasn't going to hurt Kai, and the team captain had made in clear that they had no future. He should and would do his best with Takao, and like he had thought before, perhaps his love for him could change into the way that lovers did… maybe… hopefully.
Somehow, he managed to gather the courage to leave the room and make his way down to the kitchen.
"Rei!" Takao cheered, positively bouncing over towards his boyfriend. "You look so much better! Are you feeling better?"
Rei smiled and reached out to ruffle the other boy's hair fondly. "Yeah, yeah I feel better, Taka."
Takao grinned, relief obvious. "Come and sit down! I'll make you breakfast! Do you want rice?"
"I don't want him poisoned, Kinomiya." Another voice cut in.
The Japanese youth spun around, and stuck his tongue out. "That's more your style isn't it, Kai?"
Kai's eyes narrowed into a glare. "At least I'd do it intentionally."
Rei blinked, sensing a little too much promise in those words. He coughed to break the tension. "Yes please, Taka. I'd love a bowl of rice. May I ask what's gotten you so happy? You're not usually this jolly at this time of morning." Rei asked as he moved to sit down at the table –as casually far away from Kai as possible, of course. Kai either didn't notice or didn't care.
"We've got no training today!" Takao beamed. "After you went to bed early last night, our fearless team captain here said that since Max's launch was a success, we could do what we want today."
"Well, we need Max to have a break to ensure that he can pick up his launch easily again." Kai interjected. "Besides, I'd like to have one day off from babysitting every now and again." He added quietly, eyeing the paper he was holding.
Takao looked about ready to bite, when he shrugged it off and chose to ignore the other. "Yeah, so we agreed to go and see a movie. We don't do stuff much with each other that's not Beyblading. Kai's even coming."
"Kai?" Rei spoke without thinking; surprised that Kai was actually willingly spending time with them outside of a beyblading sense.
"They're going to see some action flick." Kai explained simply. "And I feel like watching idiots get themselves blown up."
Rei's eyes narrowed at Kai's words, knowing full well that the elder was trying to get a rise out of him. Rei turned his back on him and began to eat the rice that Takao had placed before him. To his surprise, it really wasn't that bad.
"You'll share with me, won't you, Rei?" Takao insisted.
"Erm..."
"He doesn't even like popcorn. Don't you know your own boyfriend?" Kai drawled.
"Hey! How was I supposed to know?" Takao snapped.
"I thought it was the little things that mattered, Kinomiya." Kai smirked.
"Like you'd know." Takao shot back.
"Can we just sit down?" Max whined.
Rei sighed in relief as the group filed into a row of seats. Kai and Takao's bickering was even worse than usual. It seemed that, without Beyblading to distract them, their usual criticisms became snippy and more personal. Thankfully though, Kai had chosen to sit before the group, meaning that there were Max and Kyoujyu to separate the two.
Rei was even more thankful though, because that meant there were Max, Kyoujyu and Takao separating himself and Kai.
The lights slowly began to dim and the chatter in the room died down. It was just before the movie began, that shuffling alerted his attention to movement on his right. In the dim light, his eyes easily found Kai ambling over.
"Kai! What the Hell are you doing?" Takao whispered.
"None of your business." Kai growled.
"Oh, I get it! You didn't go to the toilet before you left the house. Honestly, Kai. We take you out for one day and you can't even—ouch!" The Japanese yelped as Kai "accidentally" kicked him in the shin.
A round of "Shhh" was heard throughout the cinema, sounding like giant boiler letting off steam. Rei didn't know who to feel more embarrassed by.
It was only a couple of minutes later when Kai returned. This time however, he flopped down into the unoccupied chair on Rei's other side. Rei squirmed in discomfort, displeased with the fact that Kai was next to him. It was hard to avoid someone when they were sitting next to you.
Eyes, mahogany so deep they looked black in the dim light turned to regard him. "I didn't feel like climbing over you all. Don't flatter yourself." He whispered simply.
Rei flushed at that, embarrassed at himself and, if he was honest, a little offended. As a result, as the movie began, he barely acknowledged it, staring at a space on the screen, simply thinking.
He had no idea how much time had passed, as he sat in his dazed state, but a soft fluttering against his leg bought him back into awareness. He paused for a moment, before passing the fleeting sensation off as material shifting.
The feeling returned. Stronger this time, accompanied by warmth.
Rei blinked. Surely Takao wouldn't be so…so… bold!
His eyes dropped and sure enough, he found a hand upon his thigh. What confused him however was that it was not the one that was next to Takao. Rei frowned; utterly confused, and very, very slowly he followed the hand, up the arm attached to it, and further up still. And then his eyes landed upon deep red.
The hand on his thigh squeezed. Rei couldn't stop the gasp that tore itself free of his throat.
"Rei?" Rei jolted again, this time finding chestnut on him. "Are you all right?"
Rei cleared his throat, shifting violently to try and dislodge Kai's hand. If Takao were to look down… "I-I'm all right, Takao. I just… just need the toilet suddenly!" He said suddenly, as an escape plan hit him like a speeding train- cliché, but effective. A round of 'shhhh's' from the rows around them caused a mortified blush to erupt across his cheeks.
He hoped to Buddha that the newspapers didn't have "Rei Kon caught interrupting an entire cinema with a proclamation of needing the toilet" splashed across the back pages tomorrow. As soon as he reached the male toilets, he leaned against the sink bar and buried his face in his hands. It was after what must have been a couple of minutes; he heard the door swing open.
"As far as cowardly tactics go, that's about the best… or the worst, depending on how you look at it."
Rei groaned, before raising his face and throwing his full glare on the other. "It's not my fault that I can't even watch a movie any more without being… being molested." He spat.
"Oh, please." Kai rolled his eyes.
"What do you mean, 'Oh please? What do you think you were playing at?" Rei growled out.
Kai only smirked. "I thought it was funny. I wonder how your precious Kinomiya would have reacted if he'd looked down."
"It's not funny at all, Kai." Rei snapped. "Look, you've obviously decided that I've done something a while back that's greatly upset you, but leave Takao alone. If you hurt him, I'll-"
"- You'll what, Rei? Hmm? Kiss me to death?" The challenge in Kai's voice caused Rei's blood to boil.
"That was obviously a mistake!" He shot back.
"Keep making mistakes, Rei, and it'll be you who ends up hurting Kinomiya. After all, I'm a free agent, I'm not the one who cheated on the one he supposedly loves." Rei winced at the word 'cheated'. "So you see? I'm right. If you stay with him, you'll drive the whole team apart."
"I'll drive the team apart?" Rei retorted. "At least I'm not a psycho captain who keeps taking advantage of his team-mate who's going out with his other team-mate." He sighed, rubbing his temples as the fight drained away from him. "Look… Kai. I understand your reservations," He admitted quietly "But this is what I want. Please respect that. Takao loves me and we're going to make a go of it."
Kai's eyebrows flew upwards, and suddenly Rei felt nervous. And then Kai smirked. "I see." What exactly Kai saw, Rei was afraid to enquire. "Well then…" He practically purred as he stalked towards the younger teen. Rei, without thinking, stepped back as Kai neared, staring at his team captain with wide, saffron eyes. He realised rather belatedly that his back had hit the wall. Kai continued his approach. "We'll see, Rei-ki. We'll see."
"S-see what?" Rei stuttered, shuddering as Kai's warmth pressed against him, trapping him and dominating him.
Kai gave Rei a superior smile. "Whether you learn from your mistakes."
And with that, for the second time in as many days, Kai's mouth pressed to his before he had a chance to answer.
A note on Rei-ki: I was watching episode 48 of G-Rev, and during Kai's recollection of 'the people that got him there' (anime necessity #12) –which, frankly, I don't really understand, but his Takano Urara voice is hot, so I don't care xD- As he thought of Rei he said something that sounded like 'Reiki'. He didn't but I was reminded of a little nugget I learned from the Tusbasa manga, where teenage girls add random cute noise-words (I'm not sure if it's onomatopoeia, or just a silly, cute noise they like to use) such as; -kii, -tan, -puu etc, to the end of names, and I thought, hey! That's a cool term of endearment: Rei-ki. I'm not fond of 'kitten' so I though I'd give it a try.
Whether Kai is using it purposefully, subconsciously or as a joke remains to be seen.
