A/N: Yeah! Fourth chapter up! I know, I know, the story's kinda dragging, but what can you expect from a true story slighly edited to accomodate fictional characters? Really, you have to look at more than the plot; for this fic, the focus is on the characters and their development... Hehe...something learned from Lit class...

Oh, and these two chapters are dedicated to Rael-Lirdu for being such a commited reader! Thanks, Rael-chan! Hope you enjoy!

Disclaimer: You guys know it already by now, don't you?...Good.

Chapter 4: Sharing

"Hey, guys! Wait up!"

Hiromi, Rei, Kai, and Yuri turned around at the sound of the familiar voice.

"See? What did I tell you?" Rei said, grinning. "I knew he'd show up at the last minute."

Kai shook his head, then cupped a hand next to his mouth. "Hurry up, Kinomiya! You're always late!"

Soon, the stormy-eyed teen skidded to a stop in front of them, then placed his palms on his knees and leaned forward, trying to catch his breath. "Gomenasai..." he said slowly, gasping. "I read...Yuri's text...that the venue had changed...just a few minutes ago..."

"Uh-huh..." Hiromi looked skeptical. "Yuri sent the message around an hour ago. Are you sure you weren't sleeping? Knowing you, that's the most likely thing you'd do on a Saturday morning..."

"Well, come on," Rei said, anxious to break the tension between the two. "We don't have much time left until the qualifiers; isn't the first test scheduled for this afternoon?"

"Rei's right; let's get going." Kai agreed.

Their third year in junior high was almost over, and with that came the qualifiers and entrance exams to different senior high schools. Kai and his friends had decided to form a study group, just as others had done; that way, they thought, they'd all have a fair chance of getting into the school of their choice. It kind of bothered Kai that Hiromi was the only female in their group, but, since it didn't seem to bother the girl, he decided to leave it at that.

Soon, they arrived at their destination - the Tokyo National Library. The Russian had suggested this as their study venue because it was close enough to where they would be taking the qualifiers. Without a word, the group quickly went inside and mounted the stairs to the second floor, choosing a round table to the rear of the library, where they were sure no one would disturb them.

"Okay, we covered Mathematics last session," Yuri started, laying out his books. "What subject should we do today?"

"I vote for History," Takao said, opening up his notebook for that subject. "Tagawa-sensei said I need more work."

"I vote for History, too," Rei said, taking a pencil out of his pencil box. "It's one of my hardest subjects."

"We could do Science," Hiromi suggested, leaning back in her chair.

"How about you, Kai?" the crimson-haired Russian asked, glancing at the silent teen. "Any specific subject you want to work on?"

Kai thought hard. He knew that they'd tackled his worst subject in the last session, and he wasn't doing so bad on either History or Science. Then he smiled. "How about we break into groups or something?" he suggested. "Those who want to work on History go in one group, and those who want to work on Science can do the same. Then later, we exchange notes for this session."

"That could work..." Takao scratched his head thougthfully.

"If that's the case," Yuri began pushing away his History book and pulling his Science textbook out of his bag. "Kai, you take History."

"Huh?" Kai dropped his pencil. He didn't really like that subject, never mind that their teacher spoke highly of his performance in class; it was just a means to an end. "Why not you, Yuri?"

"Your marks are the highest in our group," The icy-eyed teen said matter-of-factly.

"You have a point..." The amethyst-eyed boy acquiesced sullenly, stooping over to retrieve the pencil. "Fine, then...let's get started..."

"Oh...I'm so nervous..." Hiromi half-whispered, clutching her bag so tight that her knuckles turned white under the pressure.

"Don't be," Kai whispered back. They were lined up outside the testing hall, waiting for their test numbers to be called. Since the five teens had registered at the same time, they would be called one after the other and be seated side by side. "We just went over your 'worst subject' this morning, and I don't think any knowledge gained will disappear in a matter of hours.

"Still...I'm worried about my mind going blank at the start of the test; pressure does that to me," the auburn-haired teen explained, glancing at the floor. "You're lucky you don't experience such things."

"Don't be silly; anyone and everyone experiences that at some point."

Hiromi glanced back up at him. "Not you, though; whenever we have a test in class, you're always one of, if not the first to finish."

The amethyst-eyed teen looked skeptical. "I do?"

Hiromi nodded, admiration shining in her ruby orbs. "Yeah! I see you all the time. You're finished in half the amount of time alotted for the test, and then you just doodle until the instructor tells us to hand in our answer sheets."

Kai scratched his head. "Gee...I never noticed how fast it took me to answer those tests." He grinned. "I guess time does fly when you're having fun-"

"And you have fun while doodling." The ruby-eyed teen punched him playfully on the arm.

"Hey!"

"Student numbers 03698, 03699, 03700, 03701, and 03702, please enter the testing hall,"

"That's us, you guys," Takao said, grabbing Rei and Yuri by the arms and practically hauling them after himself towards the door. Kai and Hiromi fell in step behind them. Once at the door, they showed their exam permits and were admitted into the large room.

After several more minutes, the testing hall was filled, and the door was shut. Instantly, the room fell quiet, and a roly-poly balding man stepped up to the front.

"All right, students, as you may notice, the test booklet and answer sheets are already on the desks in front of you. Now, if you will just fill in the required information, then we can begin.

A slight clacking sound broke the relative silence, as everyone took pencils and erasers out of their cases, snapping the metal boxes shut afterwards. Scratching took place of the clacking as each one filled in their name, birthdate, and other information asked for on the answer sheet, and, afterwards, began answering.

After filling up the information sheet, Kai set his pencil down on the desk, placed his hands together in his lap, and closed his eyes.

Father, I come before Your throne to ask for Your guidance and wisdom in answering this test, not just for me but for my friends as well. We've done all we could to prepare for this, the qualifying exams, but the outcome of it all is up to You.

Please help us. In Your Son's name, I pray. Amen.

Having done this, the slate-haired teen felt more at ease. He then picked up his pencil, opened the test booklet to the first page, and began to jot down the answers on the answer sheet.

"Tadaimasu," Hiwatari Susumu called from the doorway.

"Itterashai, Otoosan," Kai answered, peeking from the door leading to the living room. "You're home quite early for a weekend," he continued, approaching to see if help was needed. "Did something happen?"

Kai's father reached out and ruffled the amethyst-eyed teen's hair, and then laughed as Kai pulled away. "Nothing much, Kai," he replied, still grinning. "Just the usual surprise business trip."

"Let me guess: Okaasan is going, too, isn't she?"

The older brunette nodded. "Unfortunately, she is. We'll be leaving tomorrow evening, and will be gone for a week and a half. Your grandfather has to stay, of course, to take care of the company." He glanced down at the boy and gave a small smile. "You'll be all right with him?"

"Of course, Dad; I always am." Kai answered, albeit a little sullenly. "I just wish you guys would stop having so many trips abroad, that's all..." he added, half to himself.

"Don't worry, Kai," the older Hiwatari bent down and looked his son in the eye. "School's nearly out, and then we'll go on another family vacation. How does that sound?"

The slate-haired teen glanced up, his smile nearly splitting his face in two. "That's great, Dad!" he exclaimed, grabbing the man about his shoulders in a hug. "I'll be looking forward to that..."

"As your mother and I will," Susumu agreed, returning the embrace. "Now, go up to your room, young man, and start your homework, or whatever it is you have to be doing."

"Dad," Kai chuckled, drawing out the word and pretending to look miffed. "It's Saturday, you know that. Yeah, we had homework, but I finished it all yesterday afternoon, and I just went through the qualifier exams for high school. Don't I deserve a break?"

"I was kidding, of course," Susumu laughed, once more ruffling Kai's hair.

"I know," Kai said, still smiling. "But I'm still going up to my room."

"Why?"

"I'm working on the sixtieth page of our collaborated comic book. Yuri wants the finished pages tomorrow afternoon so he can post them by Monday; we're meeting at the park and then going out for a movie."

"Just be sure to come down when dinner's ready, and then don't let that comic book get in the way of your sleeping early tonight; we're going to church tomorrow, don't forget that," Susumu instructed.

Kai nodded. "I won't."

"Woah! Cool!" Rei exclaimed upon seeing the recently finished comic pages Kai handed to Yuri. It was Sunday afternoon. "How long did you work on that?" the neko-jin asked.

"These?" Yuri held up the sheets of paper the slate-haired teen had handed him.

"Or the comic in its current entirety?" Kai added.

"Both."

"Well..." Takao took a deep breath, "We began work on the comic near the start of this school year-"

"'We'?" Rei looked puzzled.

"It's a collaboration," Kai explained. "The characters and story are Takao's creation, I pencil and ink the pages, and Yuri colors them and posts them online."

"Oh, okay. How many pages now?" the amber-eyed teen wanted to know.

"Um..." the red-headed Russian did a quick mental count, and then smiled. "There are 58 pages up online right now, and after I color and post these two, that will make it 60."

"Hmm...that's two inked and colored pages each week, isn't it?" Rei asked. At a nod from the trio, the neko-jin looked awed. "I can tell coloring isn't hard work; from what Kai told me, you're highly skilled at digital coloring. But," here he turned to the amethyst-eyed teen. "How do you manage to churn out two fully-inked pages a week, Kai?"

"Well, on Sunday and Monday evenings, I'm usually working on the layouts for each page, and then Tuesdays through Thursdays, I work on each page for around thirty minutes a page, after completing my homework, of course. And then Friday evenings or Saturday morning, I ink them, and then I give them to Yuri in the afternoon or the next Monday."

"I'm surprised you still find time to study,"

"Kai doesn't need to study," Takao said, a hint of jealousy in his voice. "He doesn't even take notes in class, and then when a test comes, he's almost always at the top of the class."

"Shut up, Kinomiya. You know that's not true..." Kai muttered, trying to hide the slight flush that rose up in his cheeks.

"Oh, but it is," Yuri contradicted. "I've seen how quickly you finish your tests; sometimes, I'm only halfway done while you've finished and are already relaxing by doodling or writing who-knows-what in your notebook."

"Wow. I'm impressed..." Rei grinned.

"Don't be," Kai said quietly. "You wouldn't want this 'talent', if you could call it that; it's part of the reason I was picked on in elementary."

"You never told me that, Kai..." Yuri said suddenly, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Well, the subject never came up, and now it has, so I'm telling you..." The slate-haired teen stopped, and then looked up. "That is, if you want me to."

"We're friends, doofus," Takao said, suddenly forcing Kai to sit down on the grass. "And that means we talk about ourselves, even when the others don't seem to want to listen; it helps us get closer right?"

Yuri blinked. "I think it's time for an aural check-up..." he said after a time. "Kinomiya just said something smart, which is almost impossible!"

"Joke about it all you want, Ivanov," Takao went on, despite Rei's chuckles in the background. "I'm serious here." Then he turned to the amethyst-eyed teen. "So, Kai? Spill! We haven't got all afternoon!"

"..." Kai looked unsure, then noticed Rei and Yuri sitting down across from him and Takao, so that they formed a rough circle. The raven-haired Chinese gave him a small smile, as though encouraging him. Kai smiled back.

"Well, here goes..." He sighed, and then began playing with the grass, all the while keeping his eyes closed. "There was this section for 'special students' at the school where I went to elementary school. Anyone who got in was expected to be able to handle advanced lessons. Needless to say, I got in, and, to my surprise, these advanced lessons weren't as difficult as I first thought, and I thought the same went for my classmates. Turns out it was the other way around.

"Let's just say they became jealous of my 'talent', so they tried to break me and cause me to lose my standing in class - I was fifth out of forty students - by ostracizing me and stuff. One time, they even took my bookbag and hid it, and none of them would tell me where it was. I went home rather late because of that..."

"I'm guessing you weren't broken by this incident," Takao commented, moving closer. The three others followed suit; Kai pulled up a blade of grass and twirled it between his fingers.

"Well, partially broken, I have to say. I wasn't as outgoing as I once was-"

"You?" the stormy-eyed teen burst out, incredulous. "Outgoing? Somehow, I don't see how that's possible."

"Believe it or not, I was every bit as noisy and annoying as you are, Kinomiya, only way younger, so it's excusable..." Kai replied, smirking. "Anyway, that changed once I hit fourth grade up to sixth. Then I transferred to Shoudai Junior High, to get away from the memories." Here, Kai turned to Rei. "Rei, I promised I'd tell you what happened between me and Ivan, so here it is." The slate-haired teen repeated what he'd told Hiromi at the start of the school year, and at the end of the story, the neko-jin flopped backwards onto the grass.

"Ouch. That's harsh..." he commented. Kai nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, it pretty much was, but thankfully, not all of it was intentional," Kai and Yuri shared a small smile, and then Kai asked, "You're probably wondering why I haven't become overly depressed or moody, or worse, commited suicide, huh?" he asked, alluding to the usual responses to such extremely hurtful or saddening experiences. At a nod from Rei, he gave a small, sad, smile. "Well, as much as I'd like to do so, I happen to know it's not right, so I do everything I can not to fall prey to that. Also, I know it's not through my own strength that I'm able to do so, but through the Savior."

"Huh?" Rei and Takao looked confused. Kai only smiled understandingly.

"I'm talking about Jesus Christ and God, guys. Yuri knows this because I already told him, but I didn't have the opportunity to tell you two. My family is Christian in belief, and I'm very glad we are. Otherwise, I don't know what would have happened to me without God's grace and everlasting love.

"I know, I'm sounding very...mushy and philosophical to you right now-"

"It's actually nice to hear encouraging words come out of your mouth, Kai," Takao said, recovering from the shock of learning one of his friends had a different religion than what was the norm. "Most teens I know of have gone through rather mild trials compared to yours and have already begun taking drugs or killed themselve, yet you...you're still here and...and not on crack or suicidal or anything. Needless to say, I'm impressed."

"Same here," Rei added, laying a hand on the slate-haired teen's shoulder. "Maybe you could tell me more about your God some time?"

Kai smiled. "Sure, as long as you're interested and open to new ideas. Now, I do believe we have a movie to catch."

"Crap, you're right!" Takao jumped up. "C'mon, let's take the shortcut!"

"Wait...what shortcut?" Rei asked after dusting himself off.

"Just follow me!"

"Oh, boy..." Kai groaned. "If there's one thing that backfires all the time, it's Takao's so-called.spontaneous shortcuts..."

"I heard that!"

Rina's Diary:

Had a movie date with Ran and Ami today. Erika couldn't make it, though...Oh, well, maybe next time she can come!

Uwah! I'm so nervous! The entrance exam date for college is nearing! I know, I should leave this matter to God and try my best, no matter what, but I still can't help but feel nervous. Everyone is, too...I think that's why we instantly headed for the arcade after the movie... (,") hmm...

I wonder where Shun is planning to enroll? He hasn't told me yet, even though I've asked him nearly a hundred times (not quite, but oh, well...). I think he hasn't decided which school to attend yet. Well, he'd better decide soon; the closing date for entrance submissions is really close, too!

A/N: Wooh! Finally got to that part where Rina sort of shares her faith with her friends. Believe me, it takes a lot of guts to admit you're religious, and it's harder to find someone who's actually open to this sort of thing. Believe me, here in the capital, you don't see a lot of truly religious guys; they're all talk and no walk, which is sad...

In case you're wondering, I'm a Christian, too (if you haven't read my profile); I just hope I've reached someone with my friend's story...If you've been contemplated being converted just from reading this fic, I could help you make that decision. Just email me, and I'll try my best to help you with your problems (sheesh...never thought I'd be offering counseling online, but, oh well...as long as it's for God and not for yourself...), okay?

Oh, and I apologize for the sudden name shift; just found out that Kai's dad's real name…

Dewa mata! Peace out and God bless!