Disclaimer yeah, I own all of this, in my dreams.

Notes chapter three is here! Sorry its late, but thanks to all who reviewed: Manga Murder, CCSRonin, Marondo, and 1chucha2.

CCSRonin: that kind of what I was aiming for, its great that you got that vibe!

So, here's what happens next. Enjoy!

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Takao went home afterward.

His heart had constricted painfully beyond belief so that as he drove home he felt lightheaded. He couldn't remember a thing of the trip when he finally pulled into the driveway of the dojo. It was nearing midnight, and he could see a lone window light in his house. He guessed that his old grandfather must have went to bed by then.

Dazedly walking toward his house, he stopped at the front door. He couldn't muster the energy to unlock it; he was certain that the second he entered his family home he would start bawling. He didn't know why he would cry—because he lost Hilary or because she was right? What he did know is that there was no way he would disturb his grandfather.

I could go to a bar,he thought, and then chuckled under his breath. What a stupid idea. He was never the type to flee from overwhelming emotions by drowning them out. How could have things gotten so out of hand? When Kai had returned after his disappearing act, Takao's heart had thud with painful joy. Then his feelings began to gush in again, and no matter how much he tried to resist them he completely failed. But he had Hilary by then, and she loved him. And it's not like Kai would ever return his feelings…

Takao slid down to the steps, defeated.

Had he used Hilary after all? He loved her, of course. He loved her. But did he love her the way he should have? Not too long ago, he was able to ignore all these doubts. Everything was simple in his mind: he would propose and Hilary would say yes and he'd be trapped and force himself to forget about anyone else…

How unfair to her. He was not only the biggest jerk on earth; he was the most selfish human being to ever be born.

Growling with disgust and pain, he jumped up, unable to stay stationary. This was… this was too much. Just by putting it on the table Hilary had made it so unavoidable. He couldn't ignore it and he didn't have her any longer and everything was messed up.

Of course he had been wrong in being late all the time, not paying her enough attention, constantly talking about Kai. But he had just been trying to make the Kai situation neutral. How could it go so out of hand…

Hilary had finally snapped. Could he let her go?

His heart gave a pang and he jumped back into the old car, pulling out of the driveway once more. He was sure there was no way he would be able to sleep tonight. He was going to go crazy if he kept thinking about this in circles, he needed something to do!

Should he call Max? Max's enthusiasm might take his mind off things a little.

There were four rings before the blonde picked up.

"Hullo?" he sounded groggy. He had obviously been asleep.

Takao was silent for a moment. He considered just hanging up but finally said, "Uh, Maxie?"

"Yo, Takao," Max's voice cleared up a little, "Sorry, I'm just beat. Been running around all day. What's up?"

"Oh," Takao replied unintelligently, having trouble concentrating on the road while trying to think up of something. "Nothing. I think I rang you by accident."

"Hahah," Max laughed, "What's going on?"

"No, really. Just go back to bed. I'll catch you tomorrow."

"Eh, alright then. Goodnight."

After the line clicked off, Takao was about to chuck his phone and hit the gas pedal from frustration. Instead, he thought of Kai and his hand tightened on the little device. Could he call Kai right now? Did he want to see Kai?

When did ever not want to see Kai? Kai could probably help him. Maybe he would be able to talk about what happened and just draw comfort from being close to his friend…

"Yeah?"

"It's Takao," the bluenette spoke softly into the receiver.

"I know," there was a pause, "Something up?"

"Kind of," Takao chuckled unwillingly and then cleared his throat, wincing, "You going to sleep any time soon?"

"No," Kai replied slowly.

Takao hesitated, "Can I come over for a beer or something?" Please, he wanted to add pathetically.

Kai's answer held no uncertainty. "Kinomiya. I'll be waiting."

Takao's hand held his cellphone in a death grip after the call as he steered with his other. His heart had done a scary kind-of fluttering somersault at Kai's words, and then it had beat painfully. I'll be waiting…

He smiled but it was then that everything hit him properly and his eyes filled with tears, blurring the road. He wiped them away impatiently; it was a good thing that the area had very little traffic at that time. As he drove to Kai's house, he tried not to think of how he was going to handle things. Would he tell Kai about his failed proposal and his break up? Would he act like nothing happened and he was simply looking for something to do?

When he reached the house, he felt relieved. It felt so familiar to see the beautiful structure set within the high class area, despite the fact that he didn't visit here a lot. He had been mostly to Kai's family mansion, which the heir hated with a passion. After much thought, he had decided to leave it for up keeping by hired maids and to find a small, cozy place of his own. He seemed happy with his new life, and it made Takao content. If the bluenette was to admit it, he found the old mansion, despite it grandeur, rather creepy.

He parked behind Kai's expensive car, the contrast between the old Kinomiya vehicle and the sleek auto appalling. He couldn't care less as he trudged by neatly manicured grass and pretty little trees adoring the front lawn. Kai, looking as ravishing as ever in a grey tank and black slacks, was waiting for him at the door as promised

Takao inhaled lightly and smiled as Kai let him in. He walked into the richly decorated house, beautiful lit by warm lights. It was a comfortable kind of environment, truly a place to relax after a long day. The warm hues of the walls, floors, and furniture were at the same time general and unique to the Hiwatari. Takao was ushered to an open living room, with a handsome but unlit fireplace. He dropped onto the leather couch tiredly.

There was a bottle of fine wine and two tall glasses on the side table. Kai poured and offered him one before taking a seat across. He hunched over, glass in hand, and contemplated the blunette.

"You don't look too thrilled, I see," he commented. Takao knew that it meant start talking.

Takao reclined back to escape the gaze, intensified by the suggestive lighting, and took a slow sip. He sighed after a few moments.

"Life's so crazy," he mused, "Takes unexpected turns sometimes and leaves you reeling."

"Why, did Ms. Tachibana ask you to marry her?" Kai joked, lightly. Takao couldn't help his reaction; he sat back stiffly, staring at Kai. He couldn't believe how close to home the other had hit without even realizing it. Kai's perceptiveness didn't miss his reaction; he rose an eyebrow cautiously.

Takao wanted to slap himself in the face. He contented himself with throwing a hand to cover his expression, which he found he could not control for a moment. Then he revealed his features again, frowning.

"No," he replied glumly, "We broke up."

Something flashed for the briefest of moments on Kai's face, but it was gone before Takao could even process the command to identify it. He suddenly couldn't look at Kai anymore, feeling ashamed. To flee from the watchful, contemplative eyes of the other man, he busied himself with pulling off his jacket and chucking it on the seat beside him. He then added another open button to the few unbuttoned on his shirt, feeling like he might suffocate.

Kai's eyes slowly travelled from the new addition to his collarbone and then back to his face, but his expression didn't change. Takao felt self conscious and hoped that any blush he had would be mistaken for a trick by the lighting arrangement.

"Well?" he asked uncomfortably, easing back into the couch, "You want to say something?"

Kai took a sip, put his glass aside beside Takao's, and ran a hand through his hair. He shrugged, "It's you who needs to talk. Not me."

"Yeah," Takao agreed, looking away to the dark, tall windows of the room in which he could see a faint reflection, "I—really don't know. I guess it was inevitable, I should have known. I don't know why I was trying to act like it could never happen."

Kai bowed his hand, glass in hand once more, and simply nodded.

"Yeah," the blunette continued as though he had heard an audible answer, "I should've known… I wasn't giving the relationship my best and it's so selfish of me to think that while she gave me everything I just expected her to never be fed up with it. Now that I realize it, it feels terrible, Kai."

He clumsily grabbed his glass and downed it in one swallow. Kai refilled it silently.

"So… so stupid…" Takao spoke, "I asked her to marry me, can you believe that?" Kai looked up in surprise. Takao grimaced, "How could I have ever been so stupid, thinking that she would accept ignoring our problems with me. That we could simply not mention them and get married."

It was an awkward moment. A certain previous shine in Kai's eye had dulled.

"Kai, I know I sound pathetic but… am I really such an idiot? Did I expect too much?"

"Things don't always go the way you planned them to go," Kai replied quietly.

"No…" Takao laughed desperately, "After all, who expected her to realize…" he trailed off and, head leaned back on the couch, stared at the intricate ceiling.

"Realize what?" Kai managed to ask.

"She thinks there is someone else," he replied, tiredly, carelessly.

The ex team-captain now leaned back, as well, though he continued to look at his guest out of the corner of his eyes. Finally, he said, "Is there someone else?"

"Yeah," Takao choked out. "I never cheated on her. But I guess its really the same thing… I haven't been completely true to her with my feeling. I do love her. Or I don't know. I'm just so confused.

There was a slightly shocked pause, and it was Kai who ended it, "Who is it?" Takao may have imagined it, but the tone seemed slightly harsh at the edges.

He drank more wine and felt a pleasant buzz in his head. He seeped further back into the couch, trying to continue evading Kai's unwavering stare.

"I—I can't…" he murmured nervously. Suddenly he felt that he shouldn't have came here at all. His heart was thudding and it still hurt but at the same time Kai was only a few feet away and his love for him was pulsing in his chest. If only he could not talk for once, simply reach over and grip Kai's calloused hand tightly in his…

"I mean," Takao continued, "I don't want to talk about it."

Kai was alertly speculative once again, reaching out to slowly pour more wine. After he'd had a thoughtful sip, he asked, "Why not?"

Takao pursed his lips, resisting his initial desire to look up at his companion with shock. This was one of the few times Kai took a 180 and actually decided to prod about something. And it was a very bad time for it to happen as well. He sighed and looked sideways and dazedly watched his own hand fidget on the armrest of the couch. He felt too lazy to stop it.

"I don't want them to know," he decided to say finally, hoping that it would end this whole patchy conversation.

But Kai seemed to have other plans, "You don't want her to know?"

Takao did sit up now, staring straight into Kai's burning orbs, whose expression was unreadable as ever. He flailed for a moment; her? "Yeah," he whispered, Kai's eyes making a pang known in his chest.

Kai broke the eye contact, offering him a newly filled glass of wine. Takao reached out, but instead of grabbing the glass he grabbed Kai's hand. They set the fragile object back on the table together, but then their contact was broken and Takao found his heart beating shakily as he sat back yet again. What was wrong with him?

"I never want her to know," he breathed, and grabbed his jacket. He had to get out of there! The atmosphere was getting to him and he might end up doing something he'd regret for the rest of his life. He would never be able to take the disgust on Kai's face, not now…

Kai quickly stood up and followed him to the door.

"Wait," he said once they reached it. Takao turned to him, drained. Kai's expression was not closed off, for once. Takao could see something in it and yet he couldn't understand it and he couldn't stand looking for too long because his eyes were filling with tears and he just wanted to cry.

"I—I need to go," he stuttered, throwing the door open.

Kai's fingers clamped tightly on his shoulder. "Kinomiya. Why?"

His soft voice only made Takao want to scream.

"My girlfriend just broke up with me and the person I like will never feel the same way. I think I should go sleep, I can't think straight anymore." He couldn't find the power to pull away from the other's clutch, for Kai held on.

"Listen, Takao," he began, in that tone of voice that made Takao feel broken inside and want to hug him until all eternity, "It's not the end of the word. You should tell the girl you like…"

"No…" Takao cut through him, "…she can never know…" he felt pathetic and cowardly as he sped to his car and pulled away, giving a last wave to Kai, who still stood at his door as if he hadn't realized that Takao had already left.

Takao cursed at himself angrily. After driving for a while, he stopped in an empty parking lot and sobbed until he felt some of his tangled emotions ease up.

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Note Please, please, please review. For the love of Tyka? I mean, think about it: reviews mean MOAR STORY which means TYKA. Its only logical…