October 09, 2011
Warning: Coarse language.
Thank you for the lovely reviews, favorites and alerts! I really appreciate it!
My chapters are usually 3k words and up, and they're slow-paced. So expect a long, long story.
These are their ages: Rei - 22; Kai - 23; Yuriy - 23; Ivan - 19; Boris - 24; Sergey - 24.
Disclaimer: Beyblade not mine!
Stress Reliever
Step Two
An awkward silence surrounded the dining room while Rei took a bite of his breakfast pancake. He had the unfortunate luck to be seated in front of Yuriy, he could just feel him glaring at him with utmost disgust. He didn't know why the scarlet-haired Russian would be so annoyed at him, it's not like he's done anything to anger him. Sure, Rei didn't have any communication with Kai—and the Neo Borg for that matter—someone who he considered a close friend, for the past six years and he just showed up suddenly without notice—
Oh.
Rei munched on some bacon, realizing he was annoyed with himself too.
More awkward silence.
"There's coffee if you want some," Sergey's voice broke Rei from his internal grunting that he nearly jumped up from his seat.
"T-thanks," he pathetically mumbled in response, looking away. He felt so weird. Here he was thinking the Neo Borg were out to murder him, or at the very least toy with his mind, well, weren't they like that when he last saw them? But of course it has been six fucking years, things may had changed. Still, the last thing he would think of the Russians was offering him coffee.
Awkward silence.
"What's the time and day today?" Five set of eyes stared at him as if he just asked a very stupid question. Which he probably did. Now he felt actually stupid. "I mean," he began to explain, trying to regain face, "I came from a different timezone, so..." Somehow it felt like it wasn't working. But he's telling the truth!
Kai took a glance at his watch. "9:04 AM, Sunday."
"Thanks Kai," he began to adjust his own watch to the correct time. At least Kai understood him.
...When would this awkward silence end?
As Rei finished up his food, his mind started to drift off somewhere; he wasn't normally like this. This, as in nervous, shy, tense and distracted—in fact, he was quite shameless, he DID show up here without notice; and reckless, he took on Russia without knowing his way through. Maybe it was because of the fact that he was surrounded by people he didn't expect. If it was only Kai, then maybe he wouldn't be like this... But of course it was silly of him not to expect the Neo Borg to be with Kai.
"Which one is it this week?" Ivan cut him off from his thoughts though the question was not directed at him.
Yuriy cast Ivan a quick glance. "Cafe Euphoria."
Cafe...? Rei mused.
The indigo-haired teen scanned the screen of his laptop. "Ah well, Ykovich hasn't arrived yet—again—"
Rei was becoming confused. What are they talking about?
Kai took a sip from his coffee before nodding, "We leave at ten o'clock." The others, fully understanding what just transpired, gestured their nods in reply and continued eating.
Okay, now Rei's really confused. "What?" The Chinese quickly clamped a hand over his mouth—he didn't mean to say that out loud! "Ah crap—"
Boris glared at him. "Mind your own business, cat."
...And the awkward silence was back.
"I'm done," Ivan quickly closed off the lid of his laptop and left the dining room with it.
Boris didn't even say anything before stepping out of the room.
Yuriy put down his hands on the table as he stood up. "Kai," he leaned a bit towards him, "I hope what you said was true." Giving Rei one last glare, he disappeared.
Sergey motioned to stand up and begin gathering the plates—
"NO—" The tall man glanced at the black-haired Chinese...Rei had a sorry look on his face. "I mean, I'll do it. It's the least I could do." Sergey gave him his nod and left the room as well.
Rei slumped back in his chair, sighing. That went horribly bad. Of course, the fact that they tolerated him didn't mean they want or like him around. As much as he hated to admit it but Boris was right, he should damn well mind his own business. He sighed again.
And Kai was merely observing with his crimson eyes. "You know they're normal like that."
Rei frowned. "Yes I know, unfortunately."
Taking one last sip of his coffee, Kai continued, "You have to get used to it if you're planning on staying long." He stood up from his seat, and with a nod from him and a sad smile from Rei, he left.
Rei glared at nothing. "I also know that...unfortunately..."
x
Yuriy noticed Sergey exiting the dining room sooner. It only took a second for him to put two and two together, after all he was quite a genius. "He might be useful after all, as a maid."
"Shut up and get ready," Kai's voice told him off as he appeared in the living room.
"Aww, Kai's so over-protective of the kitty-cat," Yuriy mock-cooed as he rolled his crystal blue eyes. He received a glare from the slate-haired Russian, clearly the man was not amused.
"You might have forgotten that Kai has a soft spot for felines."
Kai was slightly taken aback with the statement, a small blush forming on his cheeks for a split second. That came from Sergey who was just casually standing there in one spot...obviously a bit more attentive than the redhead. He could only look at the blond in a disapproving glare, not wanting to say anything to confirm or deny the allegation.
However Yuriy was more visibly shocked... "Yeah, well..." ...and did he look offended?
"Should I give Ykovich a call or...?" Ivan piped up effectively distracting the three of them.
"No," Kai immediately replied, crossing his arms. "Let her realize it on her own." His scarlet eyes trailed off at the sides when he noticed Rei coming out of the dining room. Although it wasn't only him who noticed; the other Russians did too, and as soon as the Chinese was at full view in the living room, they all left swiftly.
Rei grimaced. He knew what that meant.
"I should always keep you around, it scares them away," Kai smirked at him. He was the only one left. Again.
"Very funny," Rei gave him a bored look before sitting on the nearest chair. He couldn't blame Neo Borg for acting the way they do, though. If he was in their position he'd probably act the same. Besides he wasn't expecting any miracles—honestly, he wouldn't be surprised if after the end of this all, they still wouldn't want him around.
Kai, still with his arms crossed, walked in front of Rei with a domineering air around him. Rei's eyebrows shot up—he also knew what this meant; serious mode. "As you heard me say earlier, we will leave at exactly ten o'clock," he began, staring down at the attentive Rei, "Additional house rules—do not enter the rooms in this floor along the hallways, they're private bedrooms, except for the rooms at the end."
"Bathrooms," Rei remembered, nodding.
"Clean up after yourself, but I don't think I have to tell you that. I know you can cook—" Kai paused suddenly at the cringe Rei exhibited, but thought nothing of it. He continued. "So if ever you get hungry, you know where the kitchen is. You can do whatever you want." He paused again, as if pondering over something. "And probably water the plants..."
"Haha, okay I'll water the plants."
"Behave." Kai turned around, signifying the end of their conversation. He was about to head for his room when Rei spoke up again.
"Y'know, I finally noticed something that changed about you."
Kai looked over his shoulder to beckon Rei to explain.
He grinned. "You talk a whole lot more now."
...
Kai turned away and as he bowed his head a bit, he mumbled, "We will return at around four or five," finally able to go to his room to prepare for their leave.
x
Ten o'clock passed and sure enough, the five Russian men left with Kai's car without even bothering to say their goodbyes to him, with the exception of Kai of course. Really, was he expecting anything more? Anyway, making sure of his promise to Kai, Rei went to the backyard with the goal of watering the plants. As soon as he found the water hose and the faucet, he began the rather mundane task.
Something struck him about the plants though; they were thoroughly tended. It's not like somebody just tossed some seeds and plants and let nature take its course—somebody was taking care of them. Rei snickered aloud. Them, taking care of plants? They even had catnip! Rei didn't know what it's for, they didn't exactly have a cat around...well, he did read something that catnip acts as mosquito repellent...and catnip tea was delicious...
As Rei walked around the garden watering the plants, he noticed they also had fruits. Such as strawberries. Somebody must love strawberries that much, he snickered again, though he didn't bother deducting who or he might hurt his head. He wouldn't be surprised if it was Kai, though. That man loved sweets! He might had successfully hidden that trait from everybody else but Rei knew who was sneaking candies from Max's stash, and it wasn't Takao. Or Hiromi. Or Kyoujyu. Or himself.
At another part of the garden, there were vegetables. Rei wondered, do they eat these themselves? He just couldn't imagine them being vegetarians, weren't they the type of people to be meat-lovers? He shook his head, scolding himself for stereotyping. Growing vegetables didn't automatically mean they're vegetarians, right? Heck, he himself's growing vegetables back home—
"Aaarggh REI! Stop thinking about that!" he shouted at himself as he dropped the hose, closed the faucet and stalked back inside.
x
The wall clock glared a 10:35 at him as if mocking him. He still had six hours before the Russians return, and he didn't know what to do.
Unless he checks the second floor...after all he hadn't seen it.
Anything to distract him.
Settling with this decision he climbed the only stairs to the second floor, the first thing greeting him was the glass door to the balcony in front of the house. He already knew what's at the front anyway; the area where Kai's cars were parked—actually there's only the SUV now since they used the sedan—the walkway to the gate, the gate, and the main road. Nothing special. Turning around, he found himself staring at glass panes again from afar, this time they were overlooking the backyard, similar to how that wall at the first floor was styled. Rei decided that Kai liked glass panes.
Anyway after a few more minutes of walking around he learned that the room Kai was talking about must've been the room just beside the stairs, since it was the first door he saw, aside from the balcony door. Stepping in front of the door, he grasped out for the handle, eager to check out the room—when he decided against it, putting it off for later to leave a bit of suspense...to his own amusement. Sometimes he just knew he's a masochist.
On the same wall where 'his' bedroom door was located was another door. Must be a bathroom, he mused, and sure enough he was right when he went to take a look. Ah well, since he's on his way to the left wing, might as well check it out too. The next door he encountered was a 'push door' unlike the other doors in this house. Upon entering it, he smirked. Figures. It was a private gym with a lot of different machines Rei didn't even the know names of, well not like it mattered as long as he knew how to use them! It's been a while since I had any serious training, he admitted. I should go back here later... He finally concluded before exiting.
He headed for the last door on that wing. Apparently it was a mini-library of sorts, equipped with two computers and a desk, not to mention the countless amount of books. As expected of Kai.
How about the right wing?
Upon reaching it, Rei was surprised; he hadn't noticed it before but the right wing didn't have a corridor like the other side, instead it was graced by a gigantic door. He clutched the handle and gave it a gentle yank—locked. Whatever this room was must be something important, so Rei decided to give it a rest and went back in front of his supposed bedroom.
The Chinese glared at the imposing door. This was the thing that separates him from his future and how the rest of his days in Kai's house would go. He tilted his head slightly at the side as if to emphasize his thinking; he wondered how it looked like inside. Like a hotel room, perhaps? He did observe that it was a fairly large room...maybe this was the master's bedroom after all? No, Kai told him that this would be his room.
Okay. Rei breathed in, reaching out for the handle—
Ring.
Not. Good.
"Ah shit..." Rei grumbled under his breath as he grabbed his phone from his pocket, mulling over the screen—
Rick.
The phone kept ringing and ringing, and Rei kept staring and staring. Should he answer it or not? Should he answer it or not? Should he—
The call was dropped from the other side, resulting in a missed call. Rei ran his hand through his raven hair...this was sooner than he expected. A grim look was starting to form on his face when the phone lit up again and a message was received. Rei pressed a key to have a read.
"Yo, man. Just telling ya Mao's in a fit. Who wouldn't be, seeing you just vanished in a span of few hours."
Rei cringed. "Damn, Rick..." he sighed, running his thumb over the reply button. He closed his eyes; pangs of guilt was starting to consume him. Should he reply?
...
No. That would beat the purpose.
Without giving it any further thought he pressed the 'off' button.
Was he doing the right thing?
...That gym seemed like a good idea right now.
x
Hours passed and Rei took little notice of it, at least until his stomach grumbled a protest, and a quick glance at the clock told him it's 12:52 PM. He grabbed a towel and wiped off his sweat...he should probably head down to the kitchen and cook up something. Yeah, that sounded good...so he did just that.
On his way to the kitchen he passed by a window and saw a car pulling up on the driveway. Wait, didn't Kai say they're returning at around four? And that car looked damn like Kai's—
His thoughts were confirmed when one by one the Russians got off the vehicle. Okay, so they were a little early, and why the heck was he so nervous? He didn't know why but he had the sudden urge to hide, so before they managed to get in the house he scampered into the kitchen.
It was Kai who opened the front door. "How many times do I have to tell you Boris—threatening a customer is a BAD thing."
"He was pissing me off!" the light-haired man reasoned as if it was a valid excuse as he stomped inside.
Just as then Yuriy entered the house. "Yeah, because he can't decide between choco mousse and strawberry parfait." Boris only glared and didn't say anything.
"Kai," Sergey interjected, "it is also unwise of you to employ Boris at the counter."
"Huh. I guess I overestimated him," Kai quipped, followed with a loud string of Russian curses coming from the background.
Rei's interest was starting to pick up as he cut down some vegetables. He knew eavesdropping was bad, but he couldn't help overhear the conversation when they're being so loud!
"Anyway, that's not such a problem, right Boris?" Kai crossed his arms, his words laced with sarcasm, "when you literally scared half the customers."
The other man shrugged. "Their loss."
"It is OUR loss because we're the ones providing service!" the redhead threw his hands up in the air in exasperation. Why must Boris be so thick-headed?
Rei was now pouring oil over the pan, still minding his own business, and with the Russians still being loud.
"Geez, just shut up, what's done is done!" It was Ivan who spoke up as he plopped down on the sofa. "We all learned an important lesson—never put Boris in ANYTHING related to customer relations or everything will just FUCK UP!"
"Hey, FUCK YOU—"
"Enough." Kai ordered. "I'll say this only once—this will never happen AGAIN." Four nods were received.
Boris continued to grumble. "This is the goddamned reason why I'm not some half-assed P.A.—"
"I resent that!" Yuriy cut him off.
"STOP." Kai pinched the bridge of his nose and sat down on a chair. Sometimes they were such children...
When the annoying awkward silence came about it was only then they heard the clashing sounds of utensils from the kitchen.
Realization sunk in.
Yuriy stared at the kitchen for a good while before turning away his head in defeat. "Fuckin' great," he stormed off somewhere. As if it was the cue Boris cast a hateful glare towards the kitchen before going to the second floor. Sergey then properly excused himself for the study room and Ivan went for his bedroom.
For the second time that day, Kai was left alone in the living room.
He arched his head to rest on the backrest, wondering briefly just how to go through with this... Looking pathetic definitely wasn't how. He stood up and immediately went for the kitchen.
Rei was holding a wok in one hand and a spatula in the other, about to finish cooking.
"How much did you hear?"
When Rei turned around to give a questioning look at Kai, he found him leaning against the door frame with arms crossed across his chest. It struck kind of peculiar to the Chinese, not because of Kai's pose; it was the fact that Kai was wearing a formal suit, it was simple and yet he managed to look really good in it. Rei secretly envied him for that, he could never look good in anything aside from Chinese-themed clothes! Pouting a bit he turned back to his cooking.
"Kai, you were all talking in Russian," Rei replied like it answered Kai's question.
"Bullshit, I know you can understand the language."
Rei smirked to himself, well, he was partially correct. He could understand a bit of Russian and basic sentence structure and whatnot, but not those big and complicated words. "Just enough to deduct that something terrible happened concerning Boris and customers."
Kai straightened up from the door frame. He had a somewhat half-glare and half-stare at the black-haired man as if he was hesitant about something. Well, whatever that was it seemed that he came to a conclusion when he walked up to the island bar and sat on a bar stool. "I knew it was a bad decision but I had no choice with the situation," he muttered, more to himself than to Rei.
The Chinese nodded although honestly, he had no fucking idea what Kai was talking about. Anyway, finally done cooking he grabbed a plate and placed it on the bar, transferring the contents of the wok onto it.
Rei sighed. It's enough that he's the only one depressed, he didn't need Kai looking gloomier than he was. "Kai," he started, placing the wok back on the stove, "I know I shouldn't be snooping around and just minding my own business. I barely understood your conversation, honest. But know this," he turned around to stare at those crimson eyes, "If there's something I could do to help, it's the least I could do for you letting me stay here."
His words sounded better than he'd expected, thankfully...no response though. Shrugging he went over to sit beside Kai and began eating his newly-cooked food.
As soon as he did though he felt a sudden chill run down his spine. Kai was watching him...intently? Rei wouldn't admit it but he was beginning to feel a bit awkward, it's not exactly a nice feeling being watched while you're forking oily carrots in your mouth.
"What's that?" the Russian inquired, nodding his head towards Rei's food.
"Uh, vegetable stir fry," he replied, not really sure why Kai would ask such a silly question. "I was really hungry and this is fast and easy to cook so..."
More staring. More awkwardness...
Until Kai spoke up again. "Have you seen your room yet?"
x
I trust Kai. He knows what's best for me. He always does.
A pale-haired man was currently slumped down on a bed, clutching a magazine.
So...
Why the hell am I rooming with BORIS?
Rei glanced nervously at the man beside him who immediately caught it.
"Relax. Boris knows not to touch you."
A sneer. "Like I'd want to," Boris' voice came from behind the sports magazine. Rei didn't know whether to be relieved or be offended.
The bedroom actually looked normal despite it being the psychopathic Russian's. It had light-yellow walls and a grayish carpet. Rei took note of Boris' bed; it was at the far end of the room, at the opposite corner from the door. He could guess that just behind the wall it was lined up against was the balcony he found earlier that day. Aside from the beds and the drawers and the closets, it was mainly the shelves that occupied most of the walls, stuffed with random things. A circular table was placed at the middle of the room.
"This will be your bed," Kai walked towards the empty bed on the other corner of the room, parallel to the same wall where the door was located. "You can put your clothes here," he gestured for the drawers beside the bed that also served as a mini-divider between his space and Boris'. He then motioned at the desk near the feet of the bed. "And a desk for whatever purpose. Boris doesn't like his things touched."
Boris put down his magazine just to smirk at the cat. "Quid pro quo."
"What?"
"Equivalent exchange," Kai explained. "Don't touch his stuff, he won't touch...you."
"Want to die Hiwatari?"
Kai ignored the other Russian as if receiving death threats was perfectly normal. "Rei, fix your things. We will have snacks at four."
Rei bit back a giggle—Snacks? Was it really mandatory to eat snacks at his house? Though he had no chance to ask about it since the slate-haired man promptly left without any more delays. He hung down his head; he was alone now...with Boris.
He didn't hold back letting out a sigh.
"Don't worry, I don't bite."
Rei didn't know what's weirder; the fact that Boris was telling him not to worry, or the fact that he was even talking to him. Most probably both, Boris was THAT weird in a...really scary way.
Finally removing himself from the door the raven-haired man stumbled to his drawers, dragging along his stuffed bag. Well. If he's going to spend the following days along with creepy, scary Russian then he might as well start adjusting to that now. So far he had two plans on how to go about it; one, he could ignore him entirely, or two, try to befriend him. Plan A seemed the most logical and had better survival-effort ratio.
He began opening the drawers and his bag, putting clothes where they fit.
Boris still hadn't stopped staring. He'd been doing that ever since he put down his magazine... If Rei found Kai watching him eat his food awkward, then this was just downright creepily...annoying.
"See something you like?" Rei snapped, mentally slapping his forehead. He forgot an important life lesson—do NOT piss off people you know that had the capability to kill when they want to. That really wasn't the best move from him, was it?
Thankfully it seemed Boris wasn't in one of those moods. "I'm just waiting for you to do something stupid."
What?
Boris just shrugged at him and went back to his magazine.
Okay... The Chinese was just getting even more creeped out. What the hell was that about? Eh, he didn't want to think about it anymore. Finishing his chore he put his bag, along with the remainder of his belongings inside of it, on top of the drawer and went back to the bed, sighing.
"If you hate me that much," Rei's raven head snapped up from the voice to see the Russian reading the magazine, "move out."
Hate? Rei cringed at the word. It was such a strong and heavy verb it didn't feel right to be using it so casually like that. Probably a more appropriate term would be dislike, but still...
"Look," he began, running a hand through his hair, "I don't hate you, alright. It's just, everything's still a big shock to me, that's all."
"Like you're one to talk. You just fucking appeared on the couch."
Hah, he did have a frigging point there. "Well to be honest," he chuckled a bit to the glaring Russian, "I also don't have a goddamned clue what the hell I'm doing."
...
"Just don't poke your nose into other people's businesses or else." With a final glare Boris got off his bed and left the room.
Huh. First he was all casual, talking like that and the next he actually threatened him. Rei sighed, again scolding himself for forgetting who he was talking with. These people were just making sure that he knew his place in this household.
And he should start digging that through his head, after all who's to say his vacation would be short-lived?
...
Rei buried his face into his hands.
What the hell am I doing?
x
Additional Notes: For those who are having a hard time picturing the house, I made a mock-up version using The Sims game. Haha. It's not exactly 100% accurate on how I pictured it in my mind but it's fairly close, considering the limitations I had to work with. I also purposely left some rooms empty because Rei haven't been in there yet.
You can find the pictures here: photobucket . com / srpix
Password: stress
About Cafe Euphoria, I just thought of the name, and if there are real shops out there with the name then it's only a coincidence!
Thanks for reading, till next chapter.
Lei-Lei