ACROSS THE PAGES
CHAPTER 15
It was morning.
It was morning and Rei was pissed. He couldn't think of a plan, and really, it was bugging him to the walls.
He had presented the court that was his brain with scenario after scenario and nothing was working. He had whipped up every single dish that he could think of as a vent for frustration, but after finding out that even Tyson couldn't keep up with his constant cooking, he went to his last resort.
Throwing a fluffy white towel over his shoulders, he marched out the door of the dojo armed with a stick and nothing else. "I'm going out," he announced, golden eyes fierce, and proceeded to stalk past his rather stunned team mates.
"Wait, where are you going?" yelled Max, after him. He remembered the 'missing Kai' incident all too well, and he did not want to happen a second time.
"Towards the hills!" came Rei's voice. It already sounded rather far away, and Kai looked at the doorway sharply. Quietly he folded up the newspaper he had been reading, and made his way out of the dojo.
-
Placing himself underneath the powerful stream of water that pounded down on his back, he took a deep breath and crossed his legs. As the water cascaded down his hair, he relaxed, smiling minutely. He had missed this; in China he would just get out of the house and everyone would know what he was doing because they did it too. Here, although everybody knew about the practice, the people who actually practiced it were few.
Closing his eyes he could almost believe that he was one with everything around him; the wind rifting through his hair and the water flowing over his body. He wasn't exactly sure how he was going to think up a way to get Max and Tyson together, but so far the relaxation he was sure he'd get was already seeping in and he could think clearer too.
He grinned as he remembered Max's face as he went out the door –he would have to pay him back for that. Max was always looking out for them, just as Rei was in fact. He wondered if Tyson knew what a prize he'd been given.
He chuckled, though he was careful to keep the water out of his mouth. If only Tyson prized Max as much as he did his food then there would be no problems whatsoever.
He continued along the train of thought he'd caught on languidly. He wondered if Tyson would prefer Max or food. He wondered which Tyson would prefer…and smirked.
If Maxie features as Tyson's boyfriend anytime soon, it's going to be almost guaranteed that Tyson will use food as foreplay! Too bad Maxie doesn't own a bar –
A BAR!
Rei started, almost falling off the rock he'd been sitting on. Scrambling back up again, and spluttering some of the water he'd gotten into his mouth, he smiled excitedly.
Of course! The old bar cliché! Now who do I know that owns a bar? Louis! Of course! Why didn't I think of this before? It's not like it's a new idea either…
He sat there thinking for moments –not realising that it was turning to one hour; then two hours; then three. It was only when a splash from down below rang through the silence and a stone whizzed past his ear did he wake from his 'trance'.
He turned swiftly, and catching sight of slate hair, gasped.
"Kai"
He was met with a smirk before losing balance and falling down the rock and into the water pool below. Crimson eyes widening in alarm, the shirt was thrown before a slight ripple in the surface of the water signified Kai's noiseless dive. It was only a few seconds before he found the neko as he felt around in the water with his hands, and in a mutual action (as soon as Kai realised that Rei could, in fact, swim), they both swam to the surface and towards shore.
Both panting, with Kai admittedly still scared out of his mind, they stood in the water getting back their breath. And then it was then that Rei started laughing. "Thank God tigers are one of the only cats which can swim!" he said, laughing, still clinging onto Kai's arms.
He was still laughing as Kai, in a completely irrational action, slid his hands down his arms, grasped his wrists, and pulled him flush against his body.
"K-Kai," he stuttered out as Kai placed his head on top of Rei's. The other blader's shoulders were tense, even though he still maintained the image of relaxation. After just breathing a little bit more, he looked down, into golden eyes that he had been so scared of losing. Rei had placed his hands onto Kai's shoulders, and they were both thigh-high in water, the water still swirling around them, coming to a stop.
"Let's go home," Rei whispered.
Kai nodded, and taking his hands away from the younger blader's waist, got out of the water. He turned and faced Rei again, reaching out his hand to help the neko. And took another deep breath.
Sunlight passed through his hair as he stood, white cotton trousers wet and clinging to his golden body, caressing his hips. Flecks of gold decorated the water around him, dull in comparison to his eyes. Kai had always known that Rei was slightly thinner than the rest of them, but with his hair down and invading the water with a beauty akin to those of exotic and impossibly poisonous snakes, he looked almost ethereal.
Rei grabbed his hand then, and automatically Kai pulled him so that he'd stepped out of the water by his side, fingers still linked as if in a dance. Their eyes connected, and then they let go, Rei gathering his towel, and Kai gathering his shirt.
They walked companionably then; Kai's shirt slung over his bare back while Rei's towel was on his back.
That night, they fell asleep facing each other; Kai surrendering first, then Rei , whose lips murmured a little something that he would forget he ever said the next morning, before he went to sleep.
"I knew you cared."
Replies to Reviewers: NKingy: If Rei had been a character in Harry Potter I would have been hard pressed to know where to look. Slytherin would be a good place, but so would Hufflepuff and Ravenclaw. I've always been a little biased towards him; I find it hard to give him flaws, but he does have some. Nevertheless, he is not a bad matchmaker!
Iluvbeyblade: Have I seen you before? I don't remember that username…it certainly describes me well!
dark-night-sky: Aww…you made me hungry! What am I supposed to do now? You know it's really strange, but I hate it when I have to cook for myself, but as soon as I'm given free reign, and it's optional, I just can't stop the itch in my fingers. How many days did you stay anyway?
Lurkindarkness: Hey don't stress too much about it. The time will come when you will learn stuff and impress your teachers so that they fall onto the ground and worship you. Obviously this is not the time. (This is my daily mantra, so please do not destroy the dream for me or I may very well break down into tears and have the water destroy the computer –which will result in more tears).
Prozacfairy: Of course, Kai secretly aims to make Rei smile, just like I do.
JJ CJ: I didn't really think about it that way, but I think I can see what you mean. And hopefully no one will take that as being egoistic, 'cause I REALLY didn't see that until you pointed it out.
Animelover6000: Were you the one who enquired about the lemon? I'm not really too sure about it…if there is one there will be one not posted on this site, but I feel like making it stick to the rating right now. Of course my feelings change from time to time, so right now, just shrug your shoulders, lol. And yes I know some readers are frustrated about exactly how slow this is going, but believe it or not this is actually faster than I originally planned it; I was planning a real let's-get-the-readers-to-see-the-relationship-build-up fic, and I want the relationship to be strong. But thanks for the stress reliever attempt –it actually worked which is strange because the only stress reliever that works for me is usually sleep.
Skimmie: Yes sir/mam!
Echo in the Dark: Aww…I love your long reviews! They usually come at the most unexpected times (hey, I live in Rei's home city don't blame me on that one)at the most unexpected places and when I least expect it. And it invariably makes me smile when I least expect anything happy to come my way. But this one made me smile anyway. Is the image of a mother as a real live dragon universal or is it just me?
Hoshicat: Don't let Kai know you called him 'adorable'. As for the sharks…he's a Hiwatari, he's uber rich, he probably owns a few jet planes and I'm pretty sure there are some good old fashioned sharks in Australian waters.
Ceriadara: I feel complimented. I've been trying to challenge the hits on my fic that don't review for a long time now, and it's nice to know I finally got one. And I hope you're not feeling offended, because that was no attempt to make you feel like an object, just as a treasured reviewer.
Darksaphire: Really? My laughs sounds like I'm crying…which can be so awkward…anyway hope you liked this chapter.
Stunstar: No I didn't, but I do now! Sorry about Kashmir, I was a little confused you see. Although I'm wondering why Kashmir is so important. I loved your country though…everything was so colourful, and let me tell you the architecture of every single hotel that I went to was perfect! And yeah about the snail's pace…heh heh don't worry.
Darktigeress: yep! I was glad about the bonding too…and about Rei's first kiss with Kai -smiles mysteriously-
Hikari kanji: I thought your review was 'kl' too.
queenOFanime535: here it is!
Marz: For that ultra super long review alone I should give you an award! I loved the 'stop panicking' parts as well…and as for the letters comment –let's just say I didn't expect it like this either! But after a while of thinking on the plot, I realised that it would seem strange for Kai to write such long letters to Rei…he's supposed to be antisocial after all. There will be angst, before you ask, but it will only be angst. Though I can occasionally deal out tragedy, it's usually in the form of one-shots and I always give out warnings. As for the apologising chapter….think you can safely say that Rei thought it was brave and adorable (don't let Kai see that!).
I'm sorry you got so scared about pneumonia…I wonder why everyone was so worried? It wasn't even a climax thing, there was no build-up. How bad a writer would I be if I did that? I found the halo amusing too by the way, that's why I wrote it down immediately.
As for everything else…I can definitely say that you're very intuitive about my work! Please keep reading…it was an absolute joy to answer that review!
Reis1Gurl: I used to love math…now I hate it. It's so boring! Anyway good luck…hope the grounding isn't for too long
Beloved a.k.a. the Fool: I'm glad you're back! About the Christmas chapter…I actually did the latter half before the Chinese New Year chapter and the Valentine's Day chapter, but I left the first half until the day before I posted…which kind of made it super rushed. I reverted back to my childish stance then I think…I couldn't resist placing a little cuteness into it, though the mistletoe trap was a little hard to think up…I'd made up the fact that they got into a trap, but I can admit safely that the trap itself was rather clumsy –I kind of found it hard to write. Thanks for the compliments though!