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Claude took a sip of his drink and let his eyes wander over the group in front of him. They are certainly an enthusiastic group, though Tyson had spent most of his time saying how much a grouch Kai is, only to have a kendo stick to the back of his head, regards of Grandpa.

"Hey Claude." Ray said suddenly. "Want to go for a walk?"

Claude blinked. "But Kai…"

"Just a quick one." Ray said, pulling the slender teen to his feet. "I insist." He said with a certain tone to his voice, almost like he wants to speak to him in private without the others getting suspicious.

"Er, right." Claude said, letting Ray snare his wrist and drag him out of the lounge.

Ray gave a certain neko-grin and lead the way towards their rooms. Slightly confused by the grin, Claude followed, though it wasn't like he had much choice.

The room that Ray was sharing with Kai was rather impressive. Two separate bedrooms, large ensuit and a wood heater in front of a large plush sofa.

"Nice room." Claude said in slight awe.

"Impressive, huh?" Ray said, sitting on the sofa. "The captain always gets the best room. One of the perks of being the only person Kai can actually stand."

Claude nodded, still glancing around the room. He shook his head and turned his gaze to the neko. "Ok, what do you want to talk to me about?"

"You were late." Ray said. "I thought you guys were coming yesterday."

"We were but our flight was cancelled." Claude replied. "And your plan better work, Ray."

"My plans always work, Claude." Ray said, hopping off the sofa and began circling the room, deviously circling Claude too. "Kai likes Miguel, Miguel likes Kai. What could go wrong?"

"Kai finds out and he kills us, maybe?"

"Pft." Ray snorted. "If Kai was capable of killing, don't you think Tyson would have dead ages ago?"

"Is he really that annoying?" Claude asked.

"To Kai, anyway." He then grinned. "Stick around with us today and you'll find out"
"Is that a warning?"

"Yes."

Claude blinked and looked a little uneasy, especially with they way that Ray was circling the room and ultimately circling him too. He's starting to feel like a piece of meat that the hungry tiger wants to devour.

"Um, we probably should head back now." Claude said, frowning slightly when Ray walked behind him. "The others, you know."

"Oh, they can wait." Ray purred, huskily behind him. "There's another reason why I asked you here."

Claude involuntarily shivered. "And what's that?" He suddenly gasped when he felt a pair of arms circle his waist from behind and a pair of lips gently nibbling on his ear. "R, Ray?"

"You're very generous, you know that?" Ray whispered in Claude's ear. "You wish for Miguel to be happy, and the only way for him to be happy is to be with Kai. Am I right?"

Claude swallowed thickly. "I guess so. You want Kai to be happy too, right?"

"He deserves to be happy. They both do." Ray nuzzled against Claude's neck, emitting a startled gasp from the skinny blader. "But enough talk about those two. Enough talk altogether."

"What?" Claude managed to ask, tilting his head towards Ray slightly. But the question was forgotten when Ray took advantaged of that small movement, placing his lips on Claude's slightly parted ones.

Startled, Claude felt himself stiffen at the contact, but Ray tighten his arms around him, causing him to fall back into Ray's chest. A few heart stopping seconds later, Claude felt his eyes close and he gave himself into the kiss, placing his hands on top of Ray's that were around his waist.

The kiss was broken, but that was so that Ray could concentrate all of his energy licking and kissing Claude delicate neck. With his eyes still closed, Claude let his head fall back against Ray's shoulder as those talented lips flittered across his skin. Biting his lip, Claude struggle not to moan in pleasure, afraid that someone might walk by and hear.

He had no idea that he was slowly being moved until his back touched the soft fabric of the sofa and Ray's lean body laying on top of his. Ray leaned forward and brought their lips together again.

The only thing registering in Claude's mind was the feel of Ray's lips constantly tugging against his own and the warmth of his body pressed against his. One of Ray's hands left his waist and began its journey down his side, tugging at the hem of his jumper.

"Ray!" Claude gasped, finally managing to break the kiss. "Wait,…the others."

Ray pecked Claude's lips then climbed off him. "We'll continue this later, ok?" He said, offering a hand to the flustered platinum.

Claude silently nodded and slipped his hand into Ray's, climbing to his feet. As he did so, Ray tugged him forward with the hand that was still in his, pulling Claude up against him. Even though he was the tiniest bit taller, Ray had more muscles and physical strength. With Claude up against his chest, Ray pulled them both into another kiss.

"Lets go." Ray said, stepping back to give Claude room to re-arrange his clothes. "We have no idea how much trouble the others have gotten themselves into. So be forewarned."

… … … … …

"Is it me, or did it suddenly get colder?" Miguel asked, his hands rubbing against each other.

"Do you want to get something to drink?" Kai asked, picking up his snowboard. "A warm drink should warm you up."

Miguel nodded and shivered slightly. They both grabbed their snowboards the walked over to a small café near the snow runs. Using his money Kai paid for two hot chocolates and they sat in one of the small booths.

"Here." Kai said, handing the drink to Miguel.

"Thank you." Miguel said, wrapping his now gloveless hands around the warm cup. "I owe you."

"Don't worry about it." Kai said, sitting down across from him. "Weather in these higher regions are hard to predict."

Miguel nodded, letting the warm liquid slip down his throat. "It felt like the temperature had dropped a couple of degrees to me. Though you didn't seem to bothered by it."

"Oh," Kai said dismissively. "The cold doesn't bother me. Neither does the heat actually."

"Why's that?"

"Training." Kai said simply.

Miguel felt his eyes sadden. " …the abbey?"

"You've heard of the abbey?" Kai asked, slightly surprised.

Miguel frowned and lowered his eyes. "Barthez mentioned it a few times. He kept telling us that we should be grateful that we weren't involved in the Abbey."

"I see." Kai said, his voice low. "In the Abbey there were many different types of training schedules. Mine was nature. I was thrown into the middle of the Russian tundra and told to walked to the other side, if I didn't return they would kill a squadron of children. Hearing that was more than enough motivation, ya know?"

Miguel says nothing and nods.

"It was hard at the beginning. But gradually it became easier and easier. Until it was more of an evening stroll then training." Kai continued, his eyes holding a faraway look to them. "My body and immune system became so use to the cold and howling winds. Some days I look forward to being thrown in the tundra. Anything was better then staying in the abbey."

Miguel is shocked, his eyes shimmering with an unnamed emotion. "Kai…"

Kai continues to babble. "They soon realize that the Russian tundra was no longer a challenge, so they flew me to the other side of the world and threw me into death valley."

"Death valley?"

Kai shuddered. "It's was so hot, nothing I was use too. I fainted a couple of times on the first go. My body had grown so accustom to the cold that being thrown into intense heat was too much. But eventually I grew use to the heat as I did with the cold." Kai shook his head, as if trying to rid himself of the memories. "After that they felt that I had to grow use to being in water so they threw me into the ocean and told to swim to shore."

"Kai!" Miguel had to stop him, the emotions he was sensing from Kai was truly heartbreaking. "I've heard stories about the abbey, but I had never imagined that it would be that horrible."

"I'm sorry." Kai said suddenly. "I was babbling, wasn't I? Well, anyway, lets go, I want to get one more run in before I have to go back to the brat pack." And he climbed to his feet.

Miguel stayed seated for a moment. "Kai…"

"Oh, I've been meaning to ask." Kai said. "How much patience does your friend Claude have?"

Miguel blinked at the question. "Oh, he has more patience than the average person."

"I hope so." Kai said, smiling softly. "He's going to need it, that's for sure. That lot, can be quite a handful."

With that said, they picked up their snowboards and headed outside. Meanwhile, back at the snow lodge, Claude was finding that controlling the two teams a just a tad difficult.

"Dammit, Tyson get away from the buffet table! Daichi get off the chandelier, it's not there for you to play with! Aaron stop harassing the barman! Max get away from the sweet table, I'm not going to be chasing after you when you get on a sugar high! And you Ray, you stop provoking him! And Matilda for God's sake keep Hilary's temper under control!"

He breathed deeply, trying to catch his breath, then he collapses into a seat near the fire place. He was mildly aware that everyone was staring at him. He heard Tyson mutter that he was acting like Kai. Well, no bloody wonder. A saint would be screaming at the top of his lungs with this lot.

"How does Kai put up with all of this?" He muttered, slouched in his seat.

Gramps let out a loud belly laugh. "Our main man, Kai, has a lot of patience little dude!"

"No kidding." Claude replied, exasperated.

There, a little bit longer than the other two chapters. I was on a roll (sweatdrops) It was a little difficult trying to keep Tala away from this chapter.

Tala: (Stuck in a closet) Get me out of here!

Maybe later.

Next chapter: Disaster strikes.

Read and review, please.