Jaheira1000: Here you go peeps. Sorry it took so long to get it up…I lost internet access. Gomen! Anyway…I hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: I wish…

Dedication: This Chapter is dedicated to KaiLover2006, Lioku and Demoness-MarlstonWells69ner. Thanx 4 getting me off my behind guys!

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CHAPTER FIVE: I Love You?

Rei also hadn't known half of what had just been discussed, but it only served to make him even more protective of Kai. He hugged his mate closer to himself as if trying to convince himself that he wasn't going anywhere. Kai suddenly thought of one last thing.

"Another thing I was wondering about. How would they be able to identify carriers?" Here, all the neko-jin looked distinctly uncomfortable. Rai answered somewhat self-consciously.

"At two months a carrier gets a certain...smell." Kai's eye twitched.

"A smell?"

"Yes. It's a way of discovering pregnancy in those of our clan. It's something only neko-jin smell, but it's very distinctive." Kai slowly turned to glare at Rei.

"And you were planning to tell me this when?" Everybody present cringed at the icy tone he used to ask the question. Lee quickly defended Rei.

"Relax Kai! Rei didn't know about that either. He left the village before those things were made known to us!" Rei threw Lee a look which plainly said 'THANK YOU!'

Kai's eyebrow twitched again and he stomped outside, obviously in a bad mood. Rei rushed out after him to try and calm him down. He instinctively started sniffing the air for a hint of his mates scent.

Even though Kai still had another two weeks to go before he developed the smell of a carrier he still had his own distinctive smell that Rei could pick up on. It was common between mates so that they couldn't lose track of them.

After finally tracing Kai's scent to a stream running past the village he started searching. He found his love sitting beside the stream with an unreadable expression on his face. He refused to let this deter him however. He silently sat down next to Kai and looked at him. He was simply staring out over the water, not even acknowledging Rei's presence. After a few more minutes silence, Rei decided to try and break the silence.

"Kai, let's go back. We should get some rest." His only reply was an icy glare. He tried again.

"Please Kai. Think of the baby." The look Kai shot him could have frozen hell over twice with its coldness alone.

"Leave me alone Rei." At least he had spoken to him. That was an improvement right? Wrong. Kai merely stood up and started walking away. Rei, however, didn't like being ignored. He grabbed Kai's arm to stop him, but froze when Kai glared at him again before growling out.

"Rei…let…go…of…me…NOW!" Rei reeled back slightly in shock. Kai took advantage of his shock to quickly disappear into the forest. Even with his new added weight he was very fast, so by the time Rei had recollected his bearings, Kai was gone…

Rei came trudging back into the village. He had searched for Kai all over, but to no avail. Kai had hidden his scent by travelling through water and so on, which mean he had figured out how Rei had been tracking him before that, so after hours of fruitless searching he returned to the village in the hopes that Kai would return soon.

He was silently hoping that Kai might already be back at the village, but when he reached the house where they were staying (The Elders' had given him and Kai their own place now that they were a family) and he noted the unlived-in air still around the place. The place would have a warmer atmosphere if there was actually somebody inside.

As expected, when he stepped inside, there was nobody there to welcome him home. Realizing how badly he had wanted Kai to be there only depressed him further and he sank down into one of the chairs in the kitchen.

He was feeling very helpless and concerned. Helpless because he couldn't even find his own mate, and concerned because of the other clan who claimed the mates of others.

Even if Kai hadn't developed a scent yet, all it would take is one glance of the mark on his shoulder for someone from the other clan to know he was a neko-jin by mate. He leaned his head on his arms in a gesture of defeat. If anything happened to Kai, he would never forgive himself…

Meanwhile, Kai had been wandering around the forest for a while when he registered that he was being followed. After another ten minutes of tracking back in the direction of the village, he was suddenly attacked.

His attacker was obviously a neko-jin, but he seemed much more aggressive than the ones from Rei's village. For that reason he assumed this was one of those from the other clan. The Black Lion's.

This day just kept getting worse.

He had instantly crouched into a defensive position when the other man had attacked him. He parried a few light attacks, but suddenly something happened to him.

His attacker had aimed a punch at his stomach, and his senses screamed that he couldn't be allowed to make contact. It would hurt his baby. His eyes turned amber and he turned his body just in time to avoid the attack.

The other neko-jin was obviously surprised by the manoeuvre as well as the change in his eye colour before something seemed to register in his mind. He retreated in a VERY suspicious manner, but Kai was too relieved to care. He and his baby were both okay and that's all that was important to him. He silently hugged his middle and slowly made his way back to the village…

After arriving back at the village, Kai was immediately fussed over. Even people he had never seen seemed to know he was a carrier and that he had been missing for most of the day. After seeing their reaction to his disappearance, he decided to keep the attack to himself for now.

He didn't think they would let him out of the village if they knew what had happened. It would probably be smart to stay out of the forest for a while. He figured that his attacker had somehow found out that he was a carrier and that could only spell trouble for him.

He decided to go back to his 'home' where Rei was probably waiting ready to lecture him.

When he stepped into the small, but cozy home he immediately felt slightly bad. Rei was sitting in a kitchen chair with his head buried in his arms on the table. He stepped over to his mate and put his hand on his arm lightly.

Rei's head shot up and he was amazed to see Kai standing there. After a few moments he snapped out of his daze.

Kai had focussed his eyes on the floor awaiting the lecture that he thought was sure to come, but instead felt Rei's arms encircle his slight frame in a hug. His face was cradled against Rei's neck and he was shocked to feel something wet drip onto his neck. Rei was crying. He felt very bad.

"Rei…what's wrong?" He felt Rei shift him slightly so that he was back on the chair with Kai on his lap.

"I was so afraid that something had happened to you. I would never forgive myself if something happened to you. I love you so much." Rei's voice was choked with emotion and Kai's eyes widened slightly as he, for the first time, realized exactly how much he meant those words.

"I love you too Rei." Rei stopped crying from shock. He looked Kai in the eye, as if searching for lies. Finding none, he broke into a smile and lowered his head to capture Kai's lips in a sweet kiss that slowly turned more passionate.

Kai opened his mouth at the same time that Rei was considering asking for entrance. When they finally remembered that they had to breathe they pulled away from each other panting slightly.

Rei planted a small sweet kiss on Kai's forehead before picking him up bridal style. Kai immediately protested.

"Rei! What are you doing? Put me down!" Rei simply chuckled before carrying him to their bedroom. He put Kai on the bed before climbing in next to him. He felt Kai stiffen next to him but he simply put off the light and put his arm around Kai's waist to pull him closer against his front while Kai just grasped his shirt lightly.

He planted another soft kiss on Kai's forehead before whispering his goodnight. Kai relaxed after a while and wished Rei a good Night as well. And so the unusual couple drifted to sleep in each others arms…

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Jaheira1000: Another chapter that I really seemed to like. Hmmmm…I seem to be getting a lot of those lately. I think I finally managed to get Kai back into character! What do you think? -Ends shameless begging for reviews- Ja ne :P