Disclaimer: As of first chapter.

Warnings: More meals.

Chapter 6: A Lonely Mansion's Visitor

Kai adjusted the collar of his polo tee as he traipsed lightly down the flight of marble steps to the front door. He had only pulled on a knitted vest over the polo tee right at the moment the doorbell rang below. Since he had been on his way out of his room to his study, he decided that he might as well answer it.

He was nearly at the foot of the stairs when he saw his butler, Albert, who had been with him for as long as he could remember, making his way to the door.

"It's okay, Albert," he called out from where he was still descending the stairs. "I'll get it."

Stopping and smiling at his young master, knowing that there was no use in trying to argue against it, Albert replied with a slight bow, "I will see to dinner then, Master Hiwatari."

Kai made his way briskly to the door, frowning as he went. "Albert, how many times must I tell you to call me 'Kai'?"

"I do not allow myself such improprieties, sir," Albert said.

Even without looking, Kai could see the smile on Albert's face just from the tone of his voice. This was the man who had been with him since he was old enough to live in the Hiwatari second mansion. As much as Kai was all the relation he had contact with, for some reason, the elder Hiwatari couldn't stand having the boy around. As a result, Kai was pretty much his own man in his own estate, (though he did not technically own it), from the time in his life that he could remember.

Albert was his one companion, always there even as servants come and go, having their own lives to lead. Albert and Portia the cook to be exact, only as Kai was not much of an eater, he was not entirely close to the latter. Albert always knew how to deal with Kai, always knew when the young man needed his presence and when he needed to be alone. Often times Kai felt Albert could read him like an open book no matter how much he tried to hide himself behind a stone cold façade. Sometimes, that frustrated Kai, but others, it relieved him, made him thankful.

Kai grunted out a characteristic, "Hn" which Albert managed to interpret perfectly and smiled at his master's back as it stopped at the door.

The door swung back at Kai's easy ministrations and the young man almost reeled back when he saw who it was standing at his door step on that Friday evening. Kai was not ready to deal with him yet, not after what the he had done to Kai's senses, emotions and anatomy just earlier that day after the deal with Brooklyn.

Yet, there Tyson Granger was, standing at the top of the marble steps of the lavish Hiwatari second mansion, dressed not in his school uniform, but a long-sleeved shirt that was far too short for him, too short since it exposed just a LITTLE line of flesh right over the top of his dark slim jeans, with a boat neck that showed just about enough collar bones to make anyone distracted.

Kai's first thoughts of the matter strangely was not on what he was supposed to do now that Tyson was standing at his door smiling up at him like that with hands behind his back, rather how many people must have leered at Tyson when the younger man was on his way to the mansion. (When have Tyson started wearing those things anyway? he wondered with growing panic.)

"Tyson!" Kai was unable to keep the shock out of his voice as he tried to say the other's name. Much to Kai's growing mortification, he sensed Albert peering at Tyson over his shoulder and the curiosity oozing out from his butler.

Kai drew a deep breath which he prayed was subtle enough for Albert not to notice. Not a chance, Albert looked at him right at the moment and he swore his most dedicated servant was connecting some dots in his head.

"Tyson, what are you doing here?" Kai demanded, a little too hastily.

"What a way to treat a visitor!" Tyson teased, leaning forward far too close to Kai for the latter to take it calmly. "May I come in?"

That smile and that tone were too teasing, in all the wrong ways, Kai realized. He could not trust himself to speak, not when his focus kept returning to that neck and then that slightly exposed mid-riff. Sure Tala wore worse stuff than that, but this was Tyson, Tyson! His old school mate, his playground fighter buddy when they were kids…the kid who was stupid enough to make Kai a REAL mudpie?

Albert, sensing with bemusement his master's sudden discomfort, saved Kai from speaking.

"The young master rarely has visitors and never knew how to entertain them," he said, stepping up beside Kai to hold the door open for the bluenette to enter. "Usually, we only get salesmen."

Tyson walked into the mansion as he looked up at the butler and replied, "You get those too? We get a lot of them back home! Good thing we have Daichi to get rid of those persistent ones."

"Daichi?" Albert asked, looking down interestedly at the mention of the name.

Tyson laughed and said, "Yeah. He's my little brother."

Albert looked down at the bluenette and noted immediately how different he was from his young master. The young man that had just arrived had a way of drawing people to him with smiles that touched those chocolate eyes, and making them feel right at ease with his easy chatter. It had not escaped Albert how the visitor had been so comfortable with his young master from the beginning. Surely he was not someone Kai had only met and surely, from that sudden loss of the usually calm, almost cold manner of speech, to that furious blush he was trying to hide by standing in the shadows, surely, this young man meant more to Master Kai than just a mere friend.

Bending a little to look at the young man closer, Albert mused, rubbing his jaw, "You look familiar somehow…"

"I remember you!" Tyson cried excitedly, jumping a little. "You are Albert aren't you? Kai's butler? You have been around since always!" Extending a hand to the older man, Tyson added, "I'm sorry. Let me introduce myself. I'm Tyson Granger."

Albert had been surprised at first at Tyson knowing his name, but as the young man mentioned his full name, a grin broke out across his face as he took the hand offered.

"Mr. Granger! Why of course!" Albert cried, his eyes all crinkled up with his grin as he pumped Tyson's hand up and down in the air. "I remember you now! You are that rascal who always beat up Master Kai when he was a boy."

"He didn't always beat me up, Albert," Kai spoke up from his corner in the shadows. "I beat him more times than he beat me."

Tyson, whose hand by this time had been released threw a playful punch on Kai's rigid arm and playfully said, "Yeah! You wish, Kai!"

They bickered a bit---Tyson shouting things and Kai dishing out his words with little perceived emotion---while Albert watched unobtrusively by the side. Yes, this was the boy with whom Master Kai was always fighting with in the past, yet, Albert remembered that his young master enjoyed the trysts. They were something he actually looked forward to everyday. Yet to say that it was anything aggressive was not entirely fair…for Master Kai still kept all those birthday presents from the boy, still kept that plant in that particular pot of soil… It was not difficult to see how Master Kai was currently looking at the young man, and he was hiding it badly too. Perhaps, Master Kai was seeking something else, something he was afraid to seek, something he didn't even know he was seeking in the first place, in this young man.

Albert allowed himself a smile before saying, "Perhaps the sitting room is a better place to have your conversation, Master Kai."

"A sitting room? For him?" Kai said, indicating Tyson with a jerk of his head and a smirk.

"You have a sitting room? Does it have a television?" Tyson asked, suddenly excited.

"No, the television would be in the recreation room, Tyson," was Kai's reply, as he pushed his hands into the pockets of his pants and started to walk away from the door.

Tyson pouted and frowned, trotting to catch up with Kai while Albert followed at an easy gait.

"What is the sitting room for, then?"

"Just as its name says, genius," Kai said, breathing out a smile. "To sit."

They came to a door which, upon Albert's push, revealed the mansion's sitting room; high ceiling and a collection of antique-looking plush chairs arranged around a polished round coffee table of the same antiquity. Tyson gawked at the room, afraid to step in, in case he tread dirt across the carpet.

Kai had already casually walked into the room when he realized that the bluenette was no longer by his side. Stopping, he turned with his hands still in his pockets, and saw Tyson still by the door beside Albert, taking in his surroundings with the same open-mouthed reverence of a child in a newfangled toy store. The image of Tyson like that, admiring his simple sitting room, struck something in Kai, made him look as well and made him see that room anew… Kai saw, then, his privilege, his wealth. This room was lavish compared to what Tyson had been used to. It was probably as big as Tyson's living room and kitchen put together. Kai looked back at Tyson and thought if he was going to ask—

"Hey Kai! What does your bathroom look like?"

—what his bathroom looked like.

Kai could not keep down the light chuckle, a sound that took even Albert by surprise.

"You are so predictable, Tyson," he said, smirking. "I knew you were going to ask that. Shall I give you a guided tour?"

Tyson crossed his arms over his chest and stuck out a tongue at the dual-haired man before saying, "Hardy har har, Mister Hiwatari. Perhaps someday but that is not what I am here for today."

Albert pushed lightly on Tyson's back and told the bluenette, "May I suggest that you actually enter and sit in Master Kai's sitting room?"

Resisting the push, Tyson looked up uncertainly at the butler before saying with the tip of a finger resting on his lower lip, "Uh, I don't think I ought to. The carpet looks so clean…I don't know what I stepped into on my way here."

Kai thought that the uncertain gesture looked cute, too cute, but stopped himself in time to say sarcastically as he settled in a chair, "Well, you didn't stink more than you usually do, so I can be assured you didn't step into any sort of shit on your way here."

Glaring at the master of the house, Tyson strode into the room and following Kai's lead, plunked himself into the chair right across from Kai. Kai realized that Tyson didn't stink, not that the young man was always smelly or anything, but Tyson smelled rather nice…

"Fancy sitting room," Tyson commented appraisingly. Turning to Kai he added with a teasing smile, "But shouldn't you be playing the perfect host and offer me a drink?"

Kai smirked and leaned an elbow on the arm of the chair he was sitting on.

"I gotta admit, Tyson, you are one tough customer. So what will it be? Tea?"

"English style, with milk and sugar if you please," Tyson replied in the same teasing tone.

"Tea for the lady, Albert," Kai called out to his butler, playfully using the term 'lady'.

Albert was a little startled when Kai called out to him. He had been preoccupied with watching the banter that went on between the two. He had never seen Master Kai so…playful with anyone. Sure he did joke with his closest friends—Tala, Bryan, Ray, Spencer occasionally—but this, with the way the two were looking at each other, even as every word was spiced with mirth or the slightest aggression, had a flirty feel about it. Seeing Master Kai with his friends always made Albert feel happy, but seeing Master Kai with this young man made Albert feel…warm and glad, even if it seemed that Master Kai not only swung that way but may not realize his feelings just yet. Neither of them did. Neither.

"Albert?"

Smiling at the young master, Albert extended a small piece of card he had been holding to Kai and replied, "Indeed sir, but dinner needs to be prepared and this is today's dinner menu."

Kai reached out and took the card from Albert. Glancing cursorily at it, he said, handing the card back, "The usual. Nothing sweet for my drink."

Tyson was gawking properly.

When the two occupants of the room turned to him, he blurted out in wonder, "You have menus for dinner?"

"And what about you, young man?" Albert asked him in turn, the amusement never leaving his eyes. "What would you like for dinner?"

Tyson blushed and ducked his head before murmuring, "I don't want to intrude…"

"Tyson Granger shy? Never thought I would see the day," Kai sniggered, though secretly, even if he would not admit it to himself, relishing that expression.

"I don't think I will stay long enough for dinner."

"Call your grandfather and Daichi, tell them you will be having dinner here. Do you have a cell?" Even Kai was surprised at how spontaneously he had said that. Was he so eager to have the bluenette for dinner? Gathering his scattered self about him, he added hastily, "I had dinner at your place after all."

Still Tyson tried to argue—"I…"—only to have his words cut off by a resounding growl from his stomach. That settled it, Tyson was to stay for dinner, convinced finally into doing so by Albert's ardent insistence.

"The cook will be pleased," Albert finished.

Tyson hesitatingly took the menu and looked at it. He couldn't understand almost everything that was written on the menu card. He glanced at Kai with the intention of seeking help, but seeing the smug look on Kai's face, he stubbornly thought against it.

Turning to Albert, he asked, "Um…anything with chicken?"

Albert pointed to an item on the card and explained to him patiently what exactly it was. Tyson immediately ordered it. As he was about to hand the menu back to Albert, the butler asked whether he wanted any drinks or desserts to go with his meal. At the word dessert, Tyson's eyes lighted up.

"You mean, like chocolate?"

"You like chocolate, Tyson?" Albert queried interestedly.

"He's a garbage can, Albert," Kai informed from his seat. "He eats anything."

"I so am not," Tyson retorted heatedly, then said to Albert, "But anything chocolate is certainly my favourite! What do you have?"

Kai rolled his eyes and watched as Tyson went about an agonizing decision-making over which chocolate dessert to order. Kai leaned his cheek on a loose fist, elbow on the armrest and watched his butler explain desserts and made recommendations to the increasingly excited bluenette. In that moment Kai found himself drifting off, not something he was wont to do, and thinking of what it would be like to have Tyson live in the mansion with him. He imagined running feet down normally silent hallways, and that voice filling in the hush that always materialized in the mansion's. Tyson would be able to appreciate Portia's culinary skills better than he could. Tyson would love all the chocolate desserts she had made for Kai in the bid to entice his bland appetite.

It was strange how he wanted to make Tyson…happy. How he wanted to see that smile over and over again; that pout and that frown repeatedly; hear that voice, even if it was shouting at him, everyday.

He was getting a little annoyed, perhaps more at himself than at Tyson's inane fuss over chocolate desserts.

"Just ask Portia to prepare everything chocolate on the menu, Albert," he said a little irritably.

Albert smiled, nodded and briskly left the room. Downstairs, Albert announced grandly (and slyly) that Master Kai had a very important guest and called for the necessary preparations to be made—candlelight, the best silverware and china, no alcohol because he did not encourage drinking at such a young age—sending the mansion servants in a flurry of activity. Portia gawked at the order for a good while before folding up her sleeves and bustling about the kitchen, determined to prepare everything to perfection. She was a weak woman for desserts and loved even more to prepare them. Not even Master Kai's friends showed this much interest in chocolate desserts.

Back in the room, Tyson turned to Kai and asked incredulously, "All the chocolate desserts? Isn't that a bit too much?"

"Don't tell me you would have it any other way?" Kai shot back, leaning back into his chair with a smirk.

Tyson rolled his eyes and proceeded to stare down at the pile of stipulated papers on his lap. The gesture turned Kai's attention to the papers and it brought him back to the ever present question of the reason behind Tyson's visit.

"Why are you here, Tyson?"

Tyson peered back up and blinked.

"If I tell you that I came here to visit an old friend would you believe me?"

Kai raised an eyebrow, not once taking his cheek from his hand.

His companion went on, "I am here to visit an old friend."

"Tyson…" Kai said warningly.

"And I have a favour to ask."

Kai felt something inside him sink a little.

"But what I said earlier about wanting to see you is not a lie."

"Tyson…" he said again, narrowing his eyes.

"Now, Mister Hiwatari, would you like to get good credits for Literature class without having to toil through essays and research work?" Tyson asked, making it sound like a sales pitch.

"What are you saying, Granger?"

Tyson leaned back in his chair with an air of business-like professionalism. He was already quite an actor.

"You could involve yourself in the drama production," he suggested.

Kai emanated a sound that sounded like a snort and a laugh.

"You want me to act? Play the part of a silent guard in the background maybe? No way, Tyson. Acting is not my thing."

"And what is? Being all mister I'm-to-cool to be involved in anything? Just being the cold rebel in school that everybody stays well away from?"

"Is this going to become an argument, Granger?"

"Do you want it to be, Hiwatari?"

Kai massaged his temple and sighed. He hated losing to his guy, not even in a simple bickering, but he was in no mood for this. Tyson, he admitted, had a way of pulling him away from gloomy quagmires only to send him tumbling into some inferno instead. Tyson, he did not want to admit, could pull him in all strange directions, and churn his well-groomed emotions until he could not make out heads and tails of it.

"Could you help me with my lines?" he heard Tyson ask quietly and perhaps a little uncertainly.

Kai looked up at that and stared at his companion. Tyson was not looking at him. He had his eyes cast down on the papers in his lap, his bangs hiding whatever expression he might be harboring.

"Help you…how?" Kai asked in return, puzzled by it all.

He saw Tyson's shoulders heave and then Tyson lifted his head.

"I have to memorize my lines for the play," he explained, his expression serious. "Sure I have rehearsals, but I need to have my lines memorized even as I rehearse. There are so many acts. It could be helpful to have someone read the other parts while I read Juliet's."

It took a while for Kai to register it all.

"I'm sure there are so many guys who are more than willing to help, to…" Kai's voice trailed off. He wanted to say, "to be with you", but he couldn't bring himself to say it. It was like admitting a gross fact he himself did not want to know. Instead he finished with, "to get extra credits."

Tyson laughed.

"Yeah, a lot of them actually came up to me to volunteer their assistance."

Kai was not aware of how he sat up straighter at that.

"Even Robert came up to me," Tyson chattered on. "Imagine that! And to think generations of his family owns the school and all."

Robert and Kai could not care less for each other. In terms of status they were probably on par, but when it came to bearing, Robert seemed to see Kai as some sort of miscreant, a dishonour to a noble family name. They normally ignored each other save for the occasional smirk from Kai when Tala and Bryan took a dig at Robert and his aristocratic group. Robert just usually stepped over it all and went regally on his way. Right then, Kai thought that perhaps he actually disliked the guy most sorely.

"But I told all of them that I was fine by myself," Tyson's voice was a little softer at this, drawing Kai's attention to it.

The questions must have already shown on Kai's face because Tyson quickly lowered his gaze and said, "'Cause I wanted to…well…"

Somewhere in the back Kai's head, in the depths of his mind, he must have wanted to hear Tyson finish that sentence with what he hoped it would be. Tyson kept his eyes on the papers on his lap as he scratched at the back of his head; a thing he liked to do, Kai noticed, when he was feeling nervous or unsure.

"I thought I could help you get the credits," Tyson said finally, and Kai's breath came out in a strange whoosh, like a deflating balloon, too subtle for Tyson to pick up. He perked up though when he heard Tyson add, "And I thought it was a good way to spend time with you, you know…almost like old times, only without the normal bruises."

A pregnant silence followed as Tyson continued to look at the papers, keeping his eyes firmly down, and as Kai stared at the top of the young man's head.

Kai sensed that Tyson was feeling uncomfortable and the situation could potentially get awkward. In a bid to lighten up the mood, he finally said, "I'm surprised my nose is still straight now."

Tyson's head whipped up.

"Does that mean…"

"When do we start?"

A grin broke on Tyson's face and he wasted no time in snatching up the papers and stretching them out to Kai.

"As soon as possible," he replied, still grinning.

Kai took the papers and saw that they were pages of a script.

"Couldn't you at least staple them properly for me?" he demanded, staring down at the papers already starting to come loose.

Tyson laughed.

"I tried, but they were too thick."

"Then divide them into Acts or something!"

They did not have time to start at all because the tea arrived and Kai skimmed the script while Tyson chattered about what he wanted Kai to do. Kai listened intently to this chatter, his eyes only skimming most cursorily over the words on the script as he sipped his tea. It did not take much to know that Tyson was excited about his part in the play. It was never hard to know that Tyson was excited. He had always been forward that way.

When Albert came with the tea, Tyson easily got the elder man to sit down with them. Tyson never had any problem with people and he made friends easily, which was more than could be said for Kai. He was not someone who could just bound up to people and smile, and have them take to him immediately. Tyson was different. Kai could imagine him extending a helping hand to the foulest of traitors without batting an eyelid should that traitorous person needed it. Kai wondered if Tyson had not taught him certain things in the past. Would he even have been with Tala, Bryan, Ray and Spencer if Tyson had not shown him that having friend was not at all a bad thing. He didn't think so.

A maid came to announce that dinner was ready and Albert wasted no time leading them to the dining hall.

Kai knew Albert had a hand in the dinner preparations the moment he stepped into the vast dining hall. Usually any meal for Kai was a solitary affair, his loneliness only further accentuated by the vastness of the long table at which head he sat alone. The ceiling was so high, the mansion being old and all, that every clink of silverware on plate seemed to echo. He always ate fast, barely tasting his food.

Eating alone, there was no need for much lighting. Just one of the modern overhead light would do. Right then, the whole length of the dining table was lit by numerous candles, held in their individual places in the antique candelabras. The table was set for two, right in the center of the table's length and the food was laid, still steaming hot in their gleaming serving plates. Kai was glad that at least Albert had saved him some amount of mortification by not having one of the servants play the violin…or worse have a quartet perform for their dinner!

Tyson was beyond himself with excitement. He practically ran into the dining hall, spinning with his arms outstretched at his sides as he examined the ceiling and the walls, these being painted with exquisite murals.

"It is like Michelangelo's murals in the Sistine Chapel!" Tyson cried out, staring at the paintings in awe.

Kai followed his gaze as he sauntered into the hall, hands in the pockets of his slacks.

"It is a direct copy of the murals there," Kai explained. "My great-great grandfather was quite a fan of Michelangelo's murals anyway."

"Wow…but having it in your own house!" Tyson interjected, looking finally at Kai.

Kai found himself starting to like the mansion. He had been living there for almost all his life and all it had been was a cold, empty, scary place. Tyson was making him look, really look at what he had…and he realized, the mansion had its surprises.

They finally settled down to dinner, amidst furtive stares from the servants, who simply could not take their eyes off the visitor. The maids thought he was handsome; the male servants thought he was beautiful; thoughts that Master Kai quickly erased with a single piercing look. Kai ate his food, mostly in silence. He was more than happy to listen to Tyson prattle away about this and that, watch him sample dishes only to say over and over again how good they were. Kai himself had been forced to eat some of Tyson's share. He had no choice because Tyson simply cut up some pieces and threw them down onto his own plate of utter blandness. Kai chewed and went on eating again without a word. He would not allow Tyson the pleasure of knowing he liked the food…even the desserts, which Tyson managed to shove into his mouth when his guard was down. He even surprised everyone when he obliged Tyson's whim of going into the kitchen to thank the cook personally. It was certainly something to see the stout Portia melt into goo at Tyson's praises.

It was with a little tinge of regret that he saw Tyson to the door. The surprise visit had been…surprisingly pleasant. Tyson turned back at the path to wave at Kai and Albert before running up to the waiting car (for Kai had insisted, as only Kai could insist, on having Tyson sent home in a car with tinted windows) and climbing into it. Albert waved until the car was out of sight, but Kai kept his arms folded firmly across his chest, allowing himself only the briefest of glances at the homebound bluenette. Once the car was out the gate, Kai pushed himself off the wall beside the door and walked into the house without a word.

Later, Albert found him sitting in his study reading the script Tyson had given him at two in the morning.

Next Chapter: Scripts and First Times