Dedicated to: dark-night-sky, for panicking about me abandoning this fic. :)


ACROSS THE PAGES

CHAPTER 11

It was always hilarious on Valentine's Day. Even in a household of five boys and one girl, it was not normal.

Then again, this was no ordinary household.

It was the Bladebrakers' household.

And so, to suit the occasion, many flowers, gift cards and other various things had been sent.

…Many, many various things.

Therefore, it was a Bladebraker tradition to wake up late (Kai would always let them off on this one taboo day, if not only because it would have been way too late for them to start practice by the time all the letters and such were done), eat a good, large (especially so for Takao, as usual) breakfast, and then start in on their piles.

This year, in honor of the occasion, Rei had cooked up five dishes of scrumptious waffles, topped with melted chocolate and with carefully cut strawberries on the side. Each blader could only tell their seat apart by the beverage that was placed next to their plate.

Kai would always only have one mug of steaming black coffee. It had to always be piping hot, freshly brewed and in the plain white cup that Kai always silently persisted in using. It was traditional, it was useable, and it was classic. And besides, Kai claimed that the decorations on the side of the cup didn't make the coffee any more tastier anyway, so what was the use? And since Rei couldn't really argue…and didn't want to argue, he let it be.

Tyson, on the other hand, didn't mind any kind of cup as long as it was there first thing in the morning. His beverages changed according to the seasons, mostly hot chocolate or apple cider (he'd gotten addicted when they'd gone to England, as did Rei, secretly) in the winter, lemonade in the summer, green tea in the autumn and all kinds of juices in the spring (although he claimed to love watermelon the best). His mugs were sports mugs, or, if there weren't any, the ones with the boldest or most vivacious colors on them.

Kenny, if he had pulled an all-nighter, was always remedied with a latte, or if incredibly stressed out, one of Rei's famous creamy mocha mixes. Then he was sent off to bed. Normal days, however, saw him with either a glass of water (typical of the statistics genius, who had run through enough numbers to know that that beverage was the safest) or, if he was feeling a little merrier, a glass of orange-mango juice. Statistic-filled, or info-cups, as Rei liked to call them, were what he liked to drink his stuff from.

Max, Tyson's advocate, loved all juices, although he also typically loved milkshakes (which had Rei shaking his head and Kai scowling the mornings that he did drink them). He loved cups and glasses of all shapes and sizes –but all of them had to have pictures, and most of them had cartoons drawn on them, or baby animals.

Hillary would normally come over from her house after breakfast…although today she had gone out with her boyfriend to the movies.

Of course, when Max and Tyson went into the room, Kai had already been seated where he usually was –at the head of the table (an unspoken fact throughout the team). And already, in front of each and every blader, was a pile of envelopes.

These were the preferred piles. It depended on the Bladebraker which they preferred first –the worst of the worst, the plain hilarious, or the friends-and-family Valentines. In each of the other rooms, there were different piles, according to items, and according to 'kind'. Tyson and Max preferred the outrageous, while Kenny seemed to want to get the most hideous out of the way, as did Kai and Rei apparently. The postmen (who received regular tips from Rei for daring to haul their fan mail to the dojo) were always kind enough to sort these piles for the bladers, and Rei always left a particularly big tip on the table.

Within minutes of chowing down the lovely pastries, Tyson was already opening one of the brightest envelopes in the bunch –colored a pink that could have rivaled Mariah's hair. Immediately upon opening it, he frowned in disappointment, taking out a positively fluorescent bunch of flowers, which glowed, and sang raunchy songs.

"Worse than last year, I'm afraid," he commented to Max with a sense of boredom. Max giggled, as he opened his, saying in-between random bursts of laughter: "Well, I don't know about that…"

Tyson glanced at the item Max was gingerly holding up, and promptly fell onto the floor.

Rei and Kenny looked on, gaping, as Max pulled an entire set of black, lacy lingerie out. On the top was a head band of white fuzzy bunny ears. On top was a single white piece of card with address, and telephone number.

By this time, Kenny though, had already opened one of his presents. And he too, promptly fell out of his seat.

The room was silent for a second or two, as its occupants soundlessly stared at the spiked leather thong that Kenny had unwrapped. Then, with extreme promptness, they all (except Kai) sat down onto the floor, and laughed. Laughed hard.

Kenny's face resembled a tomato for the better part of the morning that day.

-

Throughout the day all the bladers moved from room to room, each room containing one genre of letters. Hideous, romantic, actually possible, friendly fans, stalkers, unfriendly fans, yaoi fans, fans who wanted to be engaged to them, outrageous and the loved ones pile…these were sorted throughout the house, and the bladers could pick one up whenever they wished. In all actuality, the stalker ones were only read so the bladers could see if they could identify the fan; but otherwise those were left alone, while a standard 'I am sorry, but no' reply that the bladers had typed out yonks before, were used for the proposals.

Rei smiled, as he finally finished all his valentines. To be rather truthful, he had nearly given up; fortunately, by that time he had only had the ones from family and friends to open. He chuckled at the recipes that Oliver had sent him and laughed as he read the White Tigers' one. They had sent him a huge card, with all four scribbling on it, and even old village friends and elders had done so. They had put the village gossip down, and Lee had even put down Mariah's newest crush. Mariah had immediately scribbled it out ferociously, but luckily Rei had already known who it was. He remembered the Christmas holidays fondly.

"Do you want to eat out?" Rei looked up, startled. He smiled as he saw Kai's silhouette at the doorway, and glanced at the clock. Seeing that it was now nearing eight, he frowned; he couldn't possibly cook dinner in such a small amount of time.

He thought about Kai's offer. He hadn't eaten out in a long time.

"Where would we eat?" he asked.

"In this Italian restaurant. We can walk; it's not far." Rei grinned at this. He loved Italian.

"Sure, just let me grab my coat," he said. He ran towards his bedroom, and grabbed a rather thin jacket. He was dressed rather casually –not in his usual outfit, but in tracksuit bottoms and a t-shirt. His hair had been in a ponytail for the whole day, and looking at his reflection in the mirror, he decided not to change it. It would take too long to bind anyway, he thought. I'll just leave it as it is.

Coming out of his room, and joining Kai at the doorway (he was wearing a rather nice black sports jacket that the sponsors had given him), he turned as moans of protest and eager packing ups were heard. Rei turned around, shaking his head.

"But we want to eat…" said Tyson, giving a pathetic pout.

"But you haven't finished those Valentines yet," Rei pointed out, amusement lacing his voice. "You know we can't do anything else before answering them."

Tyson groaned, as did Max before they continued reading the still-rather-large pile of Valentines that still sat in front of them. For it was true, the reason that the entire team had put themselves through the tedious task of going through the fan mail on that day (Kai usually dumped his right down the recycling bins) was that the BBA had established a rule that every world-famous blader would answer their fan mail on V-day, if on no other day, as they needed the sponsorship from various companies to keep the events, as well as the salaries for the bladers, going. If not, there was a penalty of not being allowed to participate in the next event…and so every blader all over the world painstakingly answered their mail.

Both Tyson and Max watched as the two older ones exited the dojo. Kenny had long since departed, claiming that he had replied all of his by email –since the valentines hadn't been restricted to handwritten ones, this was allowed. They sighed, both at the same time, and then looked at each other and laughed.

"Do you want to re-locate?" Max asked, nudging his head to indicate the sofa.

Tyson nodded: "Sure."

Max nodded. "I'll get us some food."

He did, Max smiling rather shyly, and Tyson somehow not able to take his eyes off of that smile. They ate, talking softly, and throwing glances at each other that could mean nothing…

Meanwhile, the two elder bladers had taken the keys, and had already turned the corner of the road. They walked along, silently, along the pathway. It was not an unfriendly silence, nor was it a tense one. It was relaxed, a silence markedly deserved of friends, a pleasant, companionable silence.

They entered the Italian restaurant, Kai pulling out Rei's chair for him. Receiving a smile in return, the slate-haired sat down, snapping his fingers for the menu.

Rei looked at him with amusement in his eyes. "Come here often?" he asked.

"Whenever I'm back in Japan," Kai said, nodding just a little. He watched, as Rei's eyes lit up when they scanned the menu.

"What would you like?" he said, a trifle curiously. He himself had been there so often that he had known immediately what he had wanted to have.

"Lasagna," said Rei giddily. "It's my favorite!" He calmed down a little, adding, "I'll have a strawberry juice with it as well, thanks."

Kai nodded, calling the waiter over. He named both of their orders, then settled back at watching Rei, who was admiring the scenery.

The tables were decked with traditional red-checkered cloths, each with three white candle sticks at different heights, centered at the table with a little cluster of flowers at the bottom. The lighting was dim, giving off a…well, somewhat romantic air. Although he was surprised that Kai would like such a place, he also semi-understood why. Kai was a person who respected traditions –even thought that there weren't enough of them –and this place was not only simplistic and clean, but classic in its old-time beauty.

He turned back around again, meeting Kai's gaze. "How did you find this place?" he asked, genuinely interested in the answer.

Kai hesitated. "On one of my walks the first year we met. I found this place when I was trying to get in out of the rain."

Rei nodded. Suddenly, the waitress from before arrived and golden eyes lit up as a steaming plate of lasagna slid down. The cheese on top was still melting, just how Rei liked it, and immediately he agreed that this was one of the best restaurants all around. Kai watched, amused, as Rei cut though the piece reverently, closing his eyes as he took a bite.

He opened his eyes, as if he sensed Kai watching him. He smiled sheepishly. "Sorry, I haven't had some in quite a while. Would you like some?" he asked, eagerly.

Kai, startled (though he would never say so), shook his head.

"Oh, come on! It's one of the best things that the Italian invented. Have some," Rei said, already separating a piece. "Here," he said, offering the fork with the lasagna piece on it.

Rei watched as Kai inched closer. As warm fingers closed over his, he smiled at his captain's compliance. Completely unexpectedly, however, the captain didn't take the fork, but took the lasagna piece into his mouth.

Wide-eyed, Rei watched as Kai played with the strings of cheese that came from the top layer with his tongue, trying to get them to get into his mouth. Finally finished with the piece, Kai leaned back into his chair.

Happier than before and not knowing why, Rei grinned: "See? Told you it was good."

Kai nodded; and at that point the waitress arrived again, holding Kai's dish. Again, there was a layer of cheese on top, and as Rei tried to tell what was hidden in the plate by the aromas that were creeping from it, he smelled…seafood. Then he watched as Kai ate, bemused at the way that he seemed to do everything in proportion…but in actuality, really adored the dish.

As Kai ate the pasta, he looked up. Rei sat there watching him, fascinated. As embarrassment struck him inside (just a little bit), he cleared his throat, raised his eyebrows, and asked: "Would you like some?"

He smirked, as Rei flushed. Hesitating just a little, he nodded, and Kai too, raised a fork. Rei repeated what Kai did, and as Rei pulled away, their eyes connected. Then, going back to their dishes, almost as if they had shared something between them.

"Did you like it?" he asked, casually. It was odd, but he found himself wanting Rei to say 'yes'…and as Rei nodded (with his mouth inconveniently full) he felt a sense of relief.

Normally, this was one of the only things that Kai would feel incredibly protective over. This dish was one of his memories, a precious one, for it was a dish that he and his mother had used to eat often, but he was strangely content, watching Rei eat part of the dish.

As they finished their dishes, they talked a little about both Tyson and Max…with a mutual unspoken agreement, revolving deliberately around the topic of the letters. Each enjoying the other's company.

They raised their glasses, and bumped them with a clink. "Happy Valentine's," Rei said, looking at him above the brim of his glass. Kai nodded, also drinking from his glass.

A few hours later, when they walked home, it was windy, and Rei held his jacket closer. He regretted bringing such a thin jacket, as he watched the leaves swirl around on the pavement. The thin, nippy breezes seemed to be penetrating his jacket only too well.

Kai watched the neko-jin try to hold his shivers in as they walked home. He knew that the neko had too much pride to accept his coat, but he did not want him to freeze. Kai was a little apprehensive, and had been left very cautious after Rei's little affair with pneumonia. After one more tremble made its way down the neko's body though, he could not do nothing.

"Here." Rei turned around, as Kai did, and gasped as smooth, speck-less white floated down and over his shoulders. It was only when he felt the flawlessness of the stitches did he realize that Kai had given him his scarf to wear.

He looked at Kai, stunned.

Kai shifted uncomfortably. "You're cold," he said, and looked away. Rei placed the scarf tighter against his neck, feeling warmer already.

"Thank you," he whispered, blushing a little. Kai watched him, as they walked on. As viewers watched the couple walk back to the fortunately-not-yet-famous dojo, many would comment on how they had not seemed to lack anything, although they certainly seemed different. Even though the white that many were used to seeing on Kai's neck was gone, its appearance on Rei's neck seemed to satisfy many, and no one who stopped them for an autograph (it was a must these days) asked them for the reason.

And as Kai and Rei found their way into their bedroom, Kai couldn't help thinking that Valentine's Day wasn't so worthless after all.