ACROSS THE PAGES
Chapter 18
It was midnight when he arrived at the village, and it was even later when he fell asleep. There were many welcomes, and to Rei the night was long. Just as the clock struck three, he walked into the familiarity of his bedroom.
"Finally," he muttered to himself. Yawning a little, he lifted the corner of the blanket that was nearest to him.
Taking off his clothes, he stopped, pausing in his actions, and took out the piece of paper that he had kept carefully in his pockets.
Nibbling a little at his pen (he'd chosen a blue one), he started writing slowly.
Kai,
Just got off the plane –I wonder where you are now? Technically, we should arrive at wherever we're going at around the same time…it's about the same distance from Japan to Russia that it is from Japan to China. Max has the longest journey out of all of us.
If you were here, you'd tell me I'm rambling.
But you're not here, Rei thought, with a pang. Scolding himself, and shaking his head for good measure, he kept writing.
Anyway, I've landed in one piece. Write back and tell me that you're alive, will you?
Rei.
Touching the pen to his lip for a moment (though not long, because he was rather sleepy), he folded up the simple note and placed it into an envelope, complete with a stamp.
Then he slid into his bed, finally content.
-
Dranzer was getting fatigued, Kai knew. He had been practicing non-stop for the past few days. Although he'd never tell any of the Bladebrakers this…he did approve of some rest in between sessions –it helped make the body stronger for a next attack.
Deciding to finally take a break, he moved towards his bedroom –he knew there were security cameras everywhere, but at the very least he knew where the ones in his bedroom were. The rest of the Abbey however…
Just as he was walking along one of the corridors to the West Wing, he turned around abruptly. There had been a shadow on the wall…
They boy –one of the younger years, probably- kept his head down as his hands presented a clean white envelope.
"Letter's arrived for you." It was said in a soft whisper.
Kai nodded, the boy immediately walking off. Placing it in his pocket, he went towards another one of the training rooms to train a little –to look too eager could prove catastrophic.
A good half an hour later, Kai sat down in his own desk chair, in his own room. Outside, a pale rosy hue decided to cover the Abby. Kai ignored it –nothing would ever be able to make the Abby anything remotely attractive.
Nothing reportable had happened in the last week, really. He had just come back, and Voltaire had been busy with something else. Actually, it was more than likely he was sitting in an office planning inane schemes yet again –Kai knew that the bastard didn't see him straight away so as to make it seem that he was not needed, not important.
Kai knew very much otherwise.
Sighing a little, he unfolded the letter carefully, making sure that his back was facing the video camera that he knew was situated just inside his desk lamp. Although he deliberately let the cameras in his room see some of his 'private' moments so as to fool the old stick-in-the-mud.
Reading quickly, and letting his eyes soften a little, he brought out a piece of paper from his desk, and a pen. Debating a little on what to write, he put his pen to paper.
The next day, as he stood at the corner of the Abbey, out of the building for the first time in a week, Yuri walked up to him. "What are you looking at?"
Kai watched out of the corner of his right eye as the delivery van for the mail chuffed away.
"Nothing," he said, and pushed himself off the wall.
-
"Mail delivery!" Kiki shouted out, just as he usually did, and Rei looked up. He wondered how long it took to get a letter from Russia. "Yo, Rei there's one for you."
Astounded, Rei received the letter, turning it over and over in his hands. It's been two weeks since I sent mine…it can't have been one week since he received my letter and even then my letter would have to have arrived within one week. And that's impossible for Russia, isn't it?
Returning to his room –and ignoring his team's inquisitivity- he quickly took the letter out of its envelope.
Rei.
I'm in Russia. You're rambling.
And there's more to letter writing than I thought. It requires seeing what cannot be seen by anyone else…
Tyson probably isn't the only one missing your cooking. Particularly that dessert with orange juice at its centre. Crispy and brown and perfect, according to the beloved blonde.
I'll leave you to your devices. I do miss everyone…
Hiwatari.
P.S. Look after yourself Carefully.
WHAT THE HELL!
Rei stared in disbelief at the thing that was supposed to be from Kai still held in his hands.
Was Kai trying to give him a signal? Rei still held the letter at arm's length. There was no way that the thing was fake, since it was on Biovolt paper, and it was Kais handwriting. But Kai hated desserts that Max loved…and the 'beloved blonde' was just–!
Not to mention that his captain had signed the letter as 'Hiwatari'.
A sudden thought struck him. Was Kai in danger?
He scanned the letter over, but didn't see any distinct 'help's anywhere. Then he smacked himself in the face.
You're an idiot! Of course there wouldn't be any 'help' sign. Biovolt's probably scanning everything that comes out of its quarters.
Reis eyes lit up. Scanning! Of course, that was why Kai was writing so…Rei looked at the letter and unconsciously made a face of disgust…sweetly.
Running his fingers over the entire letter, he looked for everything that didn't make sense –namely the 'beloved blonde', the 'Hiwatari' the 'missing everyone' and the second paragraph.
He supposed really, that the 'Hiwatari' bit and the 'missing everyone' was to attract attention. Definitely wasn't Kai-like. So what the heck did everything else mean!
Come to think of it, what kind of dessert had he ever made that had orange juice in its centre and could actually be crispy and brown on the outside! It was practically impossible!
He grunted in dissatisfaction with himself. Sitting there, he thought and thought and thought. 'Seeing what cannot be seen by anybody else?' could probably mean him working out the meanings, unless there was something he had totally missed. But what on earth was Kai on about desserts and Maxie for? In fact, he had only thought of one time where he had made any sort of dessert with orange in it, and that was a cake, and the only orange bits were the orange skin. Although everyone else had quite loved it, Max was the only one who hadn't.
In fact, the only thing Maxie had enjoyed about the dessert that night was the oranges themselves. Not in the manner of eating though –he'd squeezed out orange juice and then pretended to be some kind of spy that he'd seen on the movies –something to do with the Famous Five by Enid Blyton, he thought he remembered it was –using the juice as…
Reis eyes widened. He re-read the letter, reading especially the postscript, over and over. The capital C he thought had been accidental now stood out and he smacked himself a second time for ever thinking that Kai was not absolutely meticulous in everything he did.
Lighting a match (well away from the paper) he lit one of his candles (the unscented kind), then picked up the letter. Ever so slowly and carefully, he ran the letter as near to the flame as he dared.
Holding his breath, he watched carefully.
Nothing.
Holding his disappointment, he turned the page –and watched as brown writing covered the paper.
Rei-
You figured it out. Congratulations. Never, ever tell the blonde I called him beloved. Both he and I would have to go to hospital. Him for heart failure, me for the insanity ward.
Rei smiled in glee.
If you're wondering about this, Biovolt scans every letter that comes out of this building –it doesn't intercept letters from the outside though, because it thinks it can just watch us via security cameras. It's got the double effect of watching our expressions as we read as well.
Don't worry though –I think I've got the ones in my room sorted out. It might be best if you don't imitate my little trick –I don't want Voltaire to know I know it. If you're also thinking about the timing of the mailing system, it might interest you that the Biovolt Abbey skips the mailing system's security checks entirely –weight and otherwise –so we gain approximately a week in the sending and receiving.
If you couldn't guess (though I'm more in the inclination that you did) I don't really like things with orange juice in them, so please don't humor me and try to think of one. The first sentence of the 'false' letter was true.
Don't panic about Biovolt sending false letters that have my name on them –they are way too cautious about handwriting experts.
Anyway, nothing so far on this end. Write back and tell me how you are. I might as well know, and it'll tell me if you read this blasted letter or not. I hope you did…otherwise I get the feeling I'll be on the receiving end of a BBA investigation with police involved. You were always too concerned with other people, Kon.
Nevertheless, must go. Dinner starts at seven…and it's impossible to disobey over here.
Kai.
Rei smiled. Even though Kai didn't know it, his writing showed how unexpectedly soft he was getting. Rei could almost picture him rolling his eyes as he wrote certain pieces of the letter.
Quickly, Rei sorted through his bag for a pen. Even though he could now expect the mail to become two times faster than before, it would still be a fortnight before he got his response. He might as well speed the process up by writing a reply straight away. Chewing his pen, he grinned a trifle cheekily and began to write something.
One week later, Kai got a response. Hurrying to his room yet again –at least, as far as he could –he turned on the light, shielding his face and the letter away from any cameras by leaning back in his chair.
Kai,
Everything's going okay. The elders expect a lot out of us though –especially out of me.
You know, I woke up the first morning over here and before I knew it I was panicking because I thought there wasn't enough food in the fridge. Then I remembered that I was in Hong Kong and I didn't have to cook for Tyson anymore.
I still haven't gotten used to it actually. Does anybody over there eat a lot? Have you had a lot of fans around you lately? It's strange to know that there's so many out there. The dojo was always protected. I almost can't stand stepping out of the village.
Mariah's been a little pushy lately. The elders still expect me to marry her; let's just say that both of us aren't really very happy right now.
Hope you're doing okay!
His forehead crinkling a little in puzzlement, he read the letter again once more. There wasn't anything to indicate…he turned the letter over.
And his forehead smoothed over.
P.S. I'm fine.
Kai grinned.
Replies to Reviewers: Author's Note first I'm afraid. Just to address this, some people have been warning me about replies to reviewers. To summarise, I'll be pretty damned pissed if they delete me because I've read from the top of the story guidelines to the bottom last week to be exact about the time, and it says NOTHING about including it at the bottom of the page. I have a chapter to prove I'm writing a story, so idiot deleters BEGONE. And at any rate, you guys are all too special not to talk to, and private messages don't allow me to make you feel special in the world.
ProzacFairy: Yes, it was fun, wasn't it? And now they get to exchange more letters!
nav.love: Yeah, I thought they both deserved one...
NKingy: I hope the fact that this is around 2000 words instead of 1000 makes you happier than what you must be because this is so late!
Reis-1-Gurl: I know it was cute...here's the enw chapter.
Jazzy-chan: Bombs...mmhmm...sorry, Rei and Kai associated with weapons is kind of hot -blushes-
darksaphire: That's why I couldn't make them kiss for real yet.
Echo in the Dark: Heck, I'm already flattered that you're considering doing some!
Dreams-of-Mine: I'm trying to stick to the anime here...though not too much. If you haven't seen the last series then this may spoil it a little for you...hmm...must warn people. Its a different take though...I mean in the anime I really doubt that they actually did all the extra stuff I'm writing! Just think about it as behind the scenes.
The Laughing Mann: Actually, Rei really was looking at nothing. I hope that didn't confuse anyone...he was just way happy and staring into space..bit too dangerous for Kai to actually be standing there.
Danya2: Yes, I know it's cute. I loved it too! Jeez, that sounded like I was a snob...bu it was one of my favorite chapters again.
flamehaze-shana: Well actually, this is an inbetween chapter. Then the letters and whatnot come in. Again.
queenOFanime535: Why are you all crying! It's not meant to make you cry! It's meant to make you scream with delight!
dark-night-sky: You know, its funny but I spent so much time researching if Russians did air-kisses. If anyone who's Russian is reading the story, please tell me! I only figured that they did from articles that said that some businessmen went so far as to kiss each other on the lips --hmm...wait a second...
JJ CJ: I'm sorry that it wasn't here to greet you after the trip! But here it is, and it's near 2000!
Mimicking Karma: Blinks. I'm getting predictable! Dang...
Kristen Hiwatari: Will do!
azure sea: Oh that's great! I don't know what to write next for DBAW cause I've got a load of scenes in my head -all of which have to be written at some point but I need to figure out the sequence. At any rate, thank you so much for reading that one!
animelover6000: Yikes, you're another one who hasn't watched the last series...should definitely put 'spoiler' in my summary...
I am the Hodgeheg: I live to obey...here it is! I'm sorry you cried like the Niagra Falls...that wasn't really the reaction I intended. I hope your papers were safely tucked away! Unfortunately Rei is not going to fly to Russia anytime soon. I'm still not quite sure if he even will. But hey, keeps you on your toes, doesn't it?
a-devoted-life: Oh hell no I am not making this into some friendship fic! Not when I've come this far, baby! Yes their bond is strong, but I'm going to start building to the next level now. Be reassured. It is a yaoi fic.Sounds like you went through some emotional roller coasters...I hope you're okay, cause there's an even bigger basookie obstacle later on, and that one's not even easy for the writer!
Black Ice Pheonix Wolf: Here it is, nice and new and ready to be read..except if you're down here you've probably read it already...
Black Magician Girl3: Thanks!
Kaei Kon: I was afraid I'd offended you sometime! 'Jeje'? Are you Chinese? Hm...better check your profile. Anyway, I'm glad you read it all.
Marz: Yes, he came! Aren't you glad he did? And yes, it sucks to be Rei, but then again, Max left as well, and that's gotta suck for Tyson. It is indeed where the series went, and I'm keeping to it for now. My best friend is a Naruto fan so don't worry about it! Anyway, hope you liked this one!