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Dedicated to Only Secret, my best friend who has been wronged. Do not worry, we know that you are still the sweet girl that became our friend only two eyars ago...and still has her hooks in our hearts. Know that...and know that we, even if alone, shall stand with you, by you, and in any position except away from you. Have faith.

CHAPTER 10

It was with much energy, and much well-founded panic that the Bladebrakers greeted the Christmas holiday. All of them had jobs to do that had been strictly assigned to them by Rei, who had seemingly taken complete and utter charge of the household.

Kai had ordered Rei's withdrawal from the kitchen at first, but, many demands and pleas and claims (that Tyson and Max wouldn't have been able to do much of anything anyway) later, he was soon persuaded otherwise.

This rather surprising co-operation from their red-eyed captain (he'd been quite overprotective over Rei for quite a while) and largely due to the fact that all the blader teams were coming over.

Yup. All.

Majestics, All-stars, Saint-Shields, Blitzkrieg boys, F-Dynasty, King and Queen, BEGA League, Team Psykick, Barthez Battalion, everyone was coming over for Christmas.

And Mr. D had only told them the day before.

Nevertheless, with incredible presence of mind, Rei had calmly and collectedly assembled the team together to do their tasks, instructing them carefully over the two days. Tyson was to chop the wood for the fireplace and, with Max's help, bring in the big fir tree. Max was to buy all the ingredients necessary, also setting tables and piling up sleeping beds for the guests –who were all sleeping over come Christmas Eve and Christmas night. Kenny had been graciously asked to stick to Dizzie and to basically attack the surrounding hotels for rooms, as well as arranging many other little details that Rei had managed to think of, such as the next few days' weather reports, which he requested Kenny to email to the other teams, and the transport systems from the airport to the dojo. Hillary was to do the fast-paced shopping that was required to shop for all the decorations, and was also to decorate the house.

Kai and Rei stayed in the kitchen, where Rei had studiously ordered the captain to chop vegetables, and bring bowls, plates and cutlery to him in a rapid succession. Kai, who had been rather astonished at the level of manipulation that Rei had executed with the team (flattery, in the case of Hillary and the Chief, and emotional blackmail in terms of dessert to Tyson and Max) had literally blindly served the normally rather docile neko. He now understood exactly why the calm sweet looking team mate he had, had used to be a team captain. Had left a team so vicious that it had managed to get to the world championships, even without Rei.

In four hours, on the morn afore Christmas Eve, Rei had already managed to get three quarters of firewood chopped up, Hillary to get all the shopping done, Max to buy/order all the necessary ingredients, as well as Kenny to arrange the entire transport system for each and every guest that they would have in the house, including the hotels that they would stay in afterwards and the weather reports notwithstanding, while Rei had managed, with the assistance of one Kai Hiwatari, to clean the entire house, get the turkeys' (there were too many people to have just one) stuffing sorted out and the chestnuts and apples for roasting piled near the fireplace.

Six hours later and the firewood was collected in one neat pile in the woodshed, the fir tree dragged in and safely erected in the living room, everything that had to be kept cold, put into the freezer, and every ingredient that had to be chopped up, chopped up. Sleds, sleighs and skates sat at one side of the yard, covered with a sheet of tarpaulin, and all tagamis, sleeping beds, pillows and whatnot was piled at one side of the sitting room. Most of Rei's desserts and exotic mixes of food had been mixed or whipped up, ready for instant cooking the morrow.

Everything looked wonderful; the bladers themselves, however, looked just plain exhausted. Nevertheless, Rei, with a cheerful smile, and a quiet sort of cheer in his voice, managed to rile them up for the following morning, presenting them each with a hot mug of cocoa whose origin Kai still had trouble remembering about.

"You've done a good job! It's not done yet, troops, but we're strong, and how many days is it Christmas a year?" he asked. He said it with such positivity that the team already looked inspired, Kai thought.

And already the house looked Christmas-like, as Tyson lit the fire in the fireplace, and Hillary hurried to find enough towels and toiletries for their guests. Kenny had been instructed to decorate the garden a few hours ago, as Rei had decided that the computer genius needed a little, if not a lot of fresh air. Max had been assigned as lookout.

Suddenly, as the Bladebrakers finally finished putting the finishing touches on everything (Rei included, as he fished out the Christmas stockings that he had been sewing names on for that very morning), there was a shout. As Rei quickly whisked the stockings out of sight (noticing with amusement that Kai had been staring rather perplexedly at the sheer amount of red still on his lap), there was a bombardment of cold winds and breezes, and Kai quickly whisked him off to a warmer corner, glaring at the dojo's entrance.

As many came in, there was a universal shout from the Bladebrakers: "Shut the door!" As they followed orders, each and every blader looked around them, and gaped.

Somehow Rei had managed to decorate the household while Kai had turned his back on him –which in itself was quite a miracle. The fact that the entire dojo looked like some kind of winter wonderland, was, however, something else entirely.

Then there was a squeal and a shout…at least, before Rei turned around.

Rei smiled innocently as both Ozuma and Julia got caught in his little mistletoe trap. It had been very easily set up…the cage that Rei had bought had been set to go only when a certain remote control's buttons were pushed. Rei fingered that very remote control innocently in his hands…it was the one time in the year where he could be openly sneaky and surprise everyone while doing it. And he was planning on doing just that. Most of the bladers turned, as one by one, each and every one of them noticed the couple's predicament. Most of the more observant bladers, had noticed the two bladers' attractions to the other, but neither had done much. Ozuma was not used to emotion-related approaches to other people, and Julia was the same. For though both were incredibly tough in the blading field, they weren't used to dealing with things that were outside issuing orders and planning out strategies etc.

He watched, not surprised, as Ozuma made the first move, kissing Julia on the cheek gently. He groaned inwardly to himself, and started thinking of another plan –when Julia, huffing a little in dissatisfaction, tilted herself upwards and kissed Ozuma on the lips. He watched, surprised at the action, this time, and grinned.

You go girl, he cheered quietly.

As the two finished their 'little' kiss, he slowly led every blader in the room into a loud and lively applause. The stripy-haired bladers blushed then, and Ozuma, holding Julia closer to him protectively, semi-glared at Rei. Behind him, Rei heard Kai chuckle at the absolutely guiltless blink that Rei decided to perform for the two lovebirds' sakes, while the cage went up as Rei pushed another series of buttons on the remote control behind his back.

Only aqua eyes noticed how Kai's own crimson followed Rei relentlessly around the room.

As they laid down onto the tatamis that had been provided, and drank part of the apple cider or hot chocolate that Rei had provided. A lot of the bladers were reclining into the arms of their lovers, while still more were chatting with their friends. Keen golden eyes scanned the living room, smiling a little whenever they saw someone who was trying to place a 'secret' gift under the Christmas tree that Rei had hurriedly decorated in the last few minutes.

Soon the room fell into a comfortable silence though, and Lee, breaking the noiselessness, spoke to Rei. "You decorated?"

Rei smiled. "Yeah, recognize it?"

Mariah spoke up: "How could we not recognize it? Brilliant as usual," she said, her voice imitating mock-jealousy. The rest of the bladers spoke up.

"You decorated this?" asked Mystel skeptically. Rei nodded.

"Knew it wasn't my brother," said Hiro jokingly –he was the eldest in the room, as the adults had decided to clear off for the night so as to 'make room for the lil dude youngsters, o' course!' (Old Grandpa G had said this on the way out to Mr. D's limousine). There was a protest from Tyson as everyone burst into laughter.

"Though," added Tyson, as everyone calmed down. "We wouldn't have done it without him."

"Yeah, there was only one day to do it in," said Max, in his explanatory way. The other bladers looked at him in horror.

"One day!" said Oliver, stating everyone's opinions for them. "Sacré bleu! I would never have been able to do so!"

"We had Rei's help," said Max, obligingly. "Man, it was like he suddenly manned the ship, so to speak," he said, doing his –as many people labeled it– Maxie-grin.

Everyone looked at Rei with interest. He was seated, amongst many cushions, on a pure white tatami. He smiled placidly, although there was much hidden behind that smile…"It was not much," he said, protesting. "I am rather used to it."

"Pfft…" said Kevin suddenly. "You were always too modest." The White Tigers nodded wisely. Rei blushed a little.

There were roasting apples and chestnuts at the fireplace. Cider had been passed to those who wanted it.

"If you're worrying about the food, don't. You know it's completely fruitless." Rei grinned. He turned around.

"I know," he said. Kai raised his eyebrows.

"You do?" Rei nodded. And yawned. Kai caught on it quickly.

"You need to go to bed." Rei opened his mouth reproachingly. Kai had already beat him to it though, as he raised his voice.

Following the instant tone in Kai's voice, which ordered immediate execution of orders, everyone was in bed in six minutes. Rei shook his head, amused despite himself. Sleepily, he said 'good night'.

He could have sworn that Kai replied the same.

-

The next day, there was much excitement when Rei -who had woken up early only to find Kai, mock-tapping his foot at the bottom of the staircase- and Kai had dragged out the sleighs and sleds and ice-skates. It had taken everyone only half an hour (quite a miracle if one took into account the fact that the dojo was now full of fifty teenagers) to get ready and to get out.

Now, everyone was skating peacefully around the lake…or at least those who could skate. Yet, everyone was in much gaiety and there were many merry faces outside on that Christmas day. And with good reason; they'd all had a winter picnic outside (yet again, Rei had cooked this with Ka's help). Rei tried looking for Kai…yet he could not see the slate-haired captain anywhere. He remembered, fondly, the incident yesterday.

-Flashback-

Rei tilted back and forth as he tried to place the last satin star on the tip of the fir tree. His balance was still a little off due to his now long gone bout of pneumonia. He tiptoed a little, trying to keep his steadiness on the ladder.

He placed the star in it's place…

…and promptly fell off the ladder.

Golden eyes widened in surprise, startled at the lack of solidarity that his feet had felt only a fraction of a second ago.

Then, strong arms surrounded his lithe body and he was lowered to the ground safely, slowly. He turned around, as warm hands fell away from his waist, and found himself staring into crimson eyes, reproachful but strangely humored as well.

Don't do that again, they seemed to say silently, and Rei nodded, beaming at his captain.

-End Flashback-

He smiled for what felt like the millionth time that day: yes, Kai was surely softening up. He smirked as he wondered how the captain would have reacted had he been privy to Rei's thoughts a second ago.

Rei nodded quietly to himself, entirely satisfied at the scene in front of him. It had been quite tiring for him to resort to his old days as an apprentice chef, and he had dabbled in his old skills as an assistant of the hotel manager. It was all quite worth it to see all of them enjoying everything though; even if he would never speak of his weariness to his captain.

He snickered as Mariah fell and Spencer caught her. They'd bumped into each other when they had been checking up on him, he knew, and Mariah had had a crush on the blonde ever since. He chuckled again, as his sharp eyes found the innocent looking stone that he had tossed one minute ago at Mariah's ice skates.

"Was that necessary?" came a drawl behind him, and he turned, smiling wickedly.

"Their lovey-dovey dancing around each other was quite ridiculous. I thought I'd do everyone a favor," he said, blinking his eyelashes for a naïve effect. "Don't you think so?"

Kai sat down, smirking, as usual. "True, but couldn't you have used a more 'traditional' approach like you did to Ozuma and his girl?"

"Her name's Julia," said Rei automatically. He knew that Kai knew all of the bladers' names, and Kai knew he knew. It was a little habit and a game to them both though, and they kept it up as a sort of running joke. "And, really Kai, I wanted to try something a little more…conventional," he said, drawling a little.

Kai snorted. "Show off."

Rei smiled peacefully. "Naturally."

They looked on, as the other bladers made slight fools out of themselves, only some skating gracefully on the ice. Rei watched as Tala, one of those few, skated past them backwards, red hair being played with by the wind.

"He would fit quite well with Bryan…" Rei mused suddenly. Kai laughed, and Rei almost ate some snow as he fell backwards, so startled was he. He gaped. "Kai!" he said, the only thing he could say.

"They're already together." Kai said this with a smile hidden in his voice. It was the warmest that Rei had ever heard him, and he looked at the other.

"You really care, huh?" he said.

Kai looked at him sharply. As Rei only looked at him steadily, then back to the two who were now skating around the lake together, seemingly only talking, his eyes softened. "They were the first friends I'd ever had," he said quietly.

Rei nodded. He knew the protective feelings. He, too, had once been alone. He looked at his watch then; his, unlike the traditional kind, was tucked under his sash, and was shaped more into the fashion of a pocket watch. Standing up abruptly, with Kai's help, he yelled.

"Time for present opening time!"

Instantly there was a mad run to the dojo, with everyone tidying up in record time at Rei's commands.

Everyone was seated around the fire in approximately ten minutes. All in all, it was a very pleasant scene to behold, and a very special one. The bladers exchanged presents eagerly. Many laughed as they received theirs; others simply, but sentimentally tucked them in pockets and jackets carefully. Still others, like Tala and Bryan, touched fingers inconspicuously, as they opened theirs.

And then, there was Rei who only exchanged glances with Kai. Motioning to the red-eyed blader, he slipped his present to Kai into Kai's hands. He watched, as Kai unwrapped the little gift, uncovering two heavy metal bracelets, one black, the other silver. They had designs that were similar to fire, and Rei had known that they would suit Kai very well. If only because they were specially made for him…

He smiled, as Kai placed them on his wrists, and tucked them out of sight. When Kai did not meet his gaze however, his feelings started to dissipate. His feelings deteriorated further, as Kai made no move to give him a present of his own.

An unreasonable feeling of slight depression overcame him. Kai was not obliged to give presents to him! It was often that Tyson called Kai a 'sourpuss'…there was often reason to warrant that, so why would Rei be surprised?

Yet, he was. He was, because he had thought Kai wasn't so heartless. And frankly, he had thought, after the past few weeks, that Kai wasn't heartless, that it had simply proved quite the opposite. He tried, very hard, to smile.

It succeeded until everyone had left. He had let a few tears escape his eyes –though, it was funny, really, because he had never been so sentimental. He refused to allow himself to admit that it wasn't only the fact that everyone was leaving that made him unhappy –many were staying on at hotels other than the dojo. By the time that everyone had left, there was a pattern of footprints out on the garden…

It was only after all had left before Rei reached his room. Kai was already in the shower by then, and Rei tried to suppress the rather unreasonable feeling within him. It was then that he noticed the rather small package on his bed. Holding his breath he unwrapped it, whereupon a single leather string with a silver pendant whose shape was twisted and sharded into a tiger fell out, along with a letter. Opening the simple parchment, he opened it, hoping against hope for no reason that he could fathom.

Rei

Merry Christmas. Don't ever get that wretched sickness again. And ignore the propriety.

Kai.

Rei could only smile.


A/N: I am so sorry that this is so late. Broncitus and work kept me, but I promise that I will not abandon anything without word anymore. Please know that.