Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade. Although if I did, I'd make Rei and Kai fight over Takao! (Not the uke version of Kai though, cause that would just be creepy.)
Me: .:Sobs:. Go away!
Sarah: It's not the end of the world or anything Lyn! Besides you should have known that something like this would happen eventually!
Me: .:Scary eyes of doom: Snape style:. You wouldn't be saying that if I had typed a chapter of Mates and saved it to my computer! .:Goes back to sobbing:.
Sarah: .:Sigh:. Gomen minna! Lyn-chan's sad because viruses decided that her computer was tasty. It broke down and decided not to work anymore so she had to reformat the entire thing.
Me: .:Snarls:. 6 chapters! Over 55 000 words gone! Half of which were for a new Naruto/HP story I had in the works! And all my notes were on my computer! Three quarters of the next chapter of Arashi ni narimasu! And don't even get me started on the chapters I lost on A Reason To Stay! Whoever created computer viruses should be publicly tortured!
Sarah: .:Sigh:. Read and Review please! (And please forgive Lyn if she doesn't reply ASAP. She's been spending the last few nights trying to retype the next chapter of ANN from memory and download all the things necessary to keep her computer going!)
In his heart, he had known that they might meet again. He had told himself that it didn't matter, that whatever feelings he had for Rei were easily ignored in the face of his feelings for Johnny. The fact that Rei didn't have any feelings for him, not even ones of friendship apparently, helped harden his heart towards the golden eyed blader. Before coming he had told himself that he didn't still love Rei, that he would marry Johnny and have a happy life. However the minute the nekojin had strolled through the door he had felt like crawling in a hole to die. He should have just mailed a copy of the damn contract.
"Mao! I'm back! Kiki said you wanted to talk to me?" Rei yelled as he entered Ray's home, his voice trailing off as he caught sight of Takao kneeling in his friends living room.
"Takao…" Rei murmured in disbelief. How? Why? What was he doing here? It had been years since he had last seen the cheery boy and yet even though he had changed he was still so familiar. He had let his blue hair grow even longer, until it reached his tail bone, and he wasn't wearing his signature hat. He also seemed to have ditched the bright colors of his childhood and was wearing a stunning combination of black's and blues. Whatever he had expected when Kiki had tracked him down, this was certainly not it, he thought to himself as he dragged his eyes over the young man's form appreciatively.
Takao buried his unease as he resisted the urge to shift under the intense look from a more mature looking Rei. Obviously he had angered a Kami. It was the only reason his old crush could possibly look so good to him after all this time. He was definitely being punished, he thought as he ran his eyes over his former team-mates form before meeting the black haired man's gaze. "Rei."
Rei blinked in confusion, not expecting his friend to be so composed. In the past he would have been jumping on him the minute he walked in the door. "H-hey Takao. What are you doing here?"
"What? Can't I come visit an old friend?" Takao asked dryly before taking pity on the confused nekojin. "I'm here for some legal matters. And if Ray(1) would get his ass back down here I'll be able to get out of everyone's way."
Rei frowned as he walked over to the table and sunk down in Ray's former seat, unreasonably upset that Takao hadn't come for him.(2) "Legal matters? Why would you need to come here for that?"
"Because my mother-"
"REI! You're back!" Mao chirped as she came flying down the stairs to glomp her best friend. "I missed you!"
"I've only been gone a few hours Mao," Rei sighed as he pried her arms from around his neck. "And I wouldn't have left had I known Takao would be coming. Why didn't anyone tell me?"
Mao blinked as Takao turned his head and snorted. "Rei?" Mao started. "Umm…"
"Guys?" Rei asked tentatively, worry twisting in his gut as Takao refused to look at him and his childhood friend stalled. "Really what's going on?"
"What they're trying to tell you is that even if we had known Takao was gonna show up, there was a damn good chance you wouldn't have cared Rei," Ray said calmly as he walked down the stairs. "After all, it's not like you've talked or even kept in touch with him in the last few years."
"What are you talking about?" The white clad nekojin asked, his brows drawing together in confusion as he looked between his friends hoping one of them would explain. He knew he had been busy lately, but he had stayed in contact with Takao…hadn't he?
Takao rolled his eyes. Honestly this was supposed to be simple. "Can you guys play Clue in Rei later? I'd really like this business to be finished with so I could get out of here before sunset."
The room erupted in protest.
Mao: "You can't leave already Taka! We haven't had a chance to catch up! I want to know how you've been lately! We can have a sleep over and gossip while we're at it!"
Rei: You're leaving already? But it's been ages since we've had the chance to talk Takao! I'll make you're favourite desert if you stay! After dinner we can have a beybattle for old time's sake!
Ray: Are you crazy? What would everyone think if I just let you walk out to spend the night in the wilderness? You're staying, and that's that!
Takao sweatdropped. "But Ray…You're the one who wanted me to leave in the first place!"
"I never said I wanted you to leave!" He snarled as he slammed his fist against the poor table again his anger returning in a rush. "Just that I thought you were low to do what you're doing!"
"I'm not doing anything but releasing myself and the other poor sap from the stupid mistake our parents made!" The bluenette roared as he mirrored Ray's actions.
"Well fine then! Get the damn contract out!"
Mao watched on helplessly as her brother made a mess of things yet again. This was not going to end well. Sending a look towards Rei out of the corner of her eye, she winced at the confusion and annoyance that was flitting across his face.
"Fine!" Takao yelled as he pulled the pristine contract from the leather briefcase that was resting beside him. "Go get them so we can get this over with!"
Ray smirked ferally at the younger man. "No need. After all…he's sitting right across from you. The only child of Li Zhang…Kon Rei."
Takao paled rapidly as he turned to his former team-mate as he muttered under his breath, "I knew I should have just mailed the damn contract."
Rei shook his head causing his pony tail to wave back and forth rapidly. He had absolutely no idea what was going on. While Ray and Takao had never been the best of friends, they had become quite fond of each other towards the end of the last tournament they had all competed in. What had changed? And what contract were they talking about? And what did he have to do with this?
He narrowed his golden eyes as Takao's skin took on a unnatural pallor that didn't suit his tanned complexion at all. 'How,' he thought to himself, 'does he manage to still look yummy even though he looks sick to his stomach?' Rei blanched inwardly. 'Yummy? I did not just think that did I?'
As Rei waged his inner battle Takao was having one of his own. 'Shit! Double shit! How do I get myself into these situations!' He panicked before looking over to Ray. The smug bastard was grinning at him while Mao watched on with an expression that was part anger, part pity. 'That damn bastard!' He seethed in his mind. 'So that's why he thinks I was trying to trap whoever it was! And he still thinks I'm trying to trap him. Well then, he's got another thing coming! I said I was going to marry Johnny and that's what I'm going to do!'
"Well then," Takao said as summoned his bravado he had used so often as a child. "This does make things simpler."
Mao narrowed her eyes that were so much like her brothers as Ray gaped. "What!" Mao hissed. This was not the way it was supposed to go. Takao was acting like he was really going through with this-
Mao and Ray both gasped as Takao narrowed his own eyes and lifted his chin challengingly before sliding the contract and a pen towards their clueless friend.
Rei blinked cutely before looking down at the paper. "What's this?"
"That's the contract that's gonna free us from arranged marriage hell," Takao drawled calmly as his heartbeat sped up. "Long story short, Huang Shizuka was my mother, Li Zhang Aiko was yours. I'm her second son, you're her only child. They arranged for us to marry and I want out."
"Oh, I see," Rei said agreeably as he dragged the contract towards him and read it contemplatively.
Takao smiled as the golden eyed man picked up the pen. "I knew that this would work out! Just sign where the x's are and-" Takao blinked in shock as Rei pulverized the pen in his grip before he moved on to shred the contract to pieces. "What're you doing!?
Rei smiled widely at the distraught young man. "Did you honestly think," Rei said in a dangerously low voice, "That I would let my mate go after searching for him for so long?"
Takao gaped. What the hell had gotten into Rei?
Mao turned to her older brother with an I told you so smile. Ray in turn grumbled before looking at the four times world champion in pity. He wasn't leaving the village anytime soon, not now that Rei suspected he was his mate.
Rei smiled a deceptively soft smile as he rested his head on the palm of his hand, staring at his newly discovered mate in fascination. "How?"
"How what you bastard?" Takao seethed. "You better be glad that I had extra's of that contract made!"
"How are you hiding your nekojin characteristics?" Rei continued like he hadn't even heard him. "If you're Huang-san's son you'd still be half nekojin. Come to think of it…you don't really have a scent either," Rei said frowning before leaning across the table to sniff the uncomfortable looking bluenette.
Takao squirmed backwards until his back hit the wall before shooting a pleading look towards Mao, asking her silently with his eyes to explain. Mao just grinned unrepentantly before settling at the table more comfortably. Finding no help there he turned to Ray who balked under fierce glare Rei sent him as he opened his mouth.
"Y'know what? This just got too weird. I'm out of here, I'll mail you the contract," Takao said as he hastily got to his feet.
"WAIT!" All three of the former White Tigers yelled at him stopping him in his tracks.
Ray sprinted to block the doorway, knowing that if he didn't help keep the dragon wielder in the village, that there would be hell to pay later, while Mao tugged on Takao's arm. "C'mon Takao, old buddy old pal! You're not leaving yet, are you?" Ray said nervously.
"Actually I am," Takao said as he tried to extract his arm from his pink haired friends grip. Sheesh she was strong for such a small looking thing. Not that he was much bigger though. Takao's thought trailed off as he was violently brought back to the present by the two strong arms that wrapped around his waist, hauling him back against a hard chest.
"Now, now Takao," Rei practically purred as he tried to catch his old friends elusive scent. "We haven't seen each other in so long, why not stay awhile so we can catch up?"
1. OMG. Headache. I know I've complained about it before, but it's just gotten more annoying for me. Now I can't trust wikipedia for Beyblade info because their section is all messed up. I've got so many conflicting sources on this that I'm prepared to just call him the psycho looking black lion dude. Now I know that Rei is changed to Ray in the English version. Any clue what Lee is in the Japanese version? Because so far I've been told: Ray, Rai, and Lai. Kami-sama, his surname isn't even the same! So far I've got Wong, and Chou. I know one of them is the Japanese version, and one Chinese but it's annoying me. I'm not planning on changing it because that would be even more annoying, but could someone explain please? In words that won't confuse my sleep deprived mind?
2. Oh gosh, I need to get my mind out of the gutter! There were just too many ways to play with that thought.
A/N: Gosh. I didn't really put everything I wanted into this chapter. It was just getting too long and it would be just awkward to add a 5000 word chap. when all the rest have been about 1000 or so. On the plus side I have about half of the next chapter written up though.
Now for the news concerning my other fics: If you failed to read above I lost everything. I've started retyping the next chap. of ANN and I've got 2 pages of the original 18 finished. It'll be a while. I also lost a lot of work for one of my new stories, the entire next chapter of ARTS and the prologue of the sequel to With a Stronger Faith Embrace. Real life sucks, doesn't it? Between downloading everything I need for my computer,(openoffice was so annoying to download and trying to find the html file in that mess was a nightmare) attending school part-time, working full-time, and visiting my mom in the hospital, writing is sort of at the bottom of my list. I apologize in advance but I may have to go on hiatus for a month or two. I need to sleep sometime, lol. If I do I'll be sure to give you all notice. Thanks for reading!