"Look, there's nothing to tell," Takao repeats exasperatedly for what seems, to him, like the billionth time in an hour. "It's not like there was any magic spell I used on Kai or something; we were both stuck together for the summer and Kai got used to me. That's pretty much it."

The nurse's office is not a particularly interesting place. It looks like a simplistic hospital room with a gigantic file cabinet in the corner of the room and posters promoting safe sex on the walls. Instead of magazines there are pamphlets on different diseases, most of them STDs, in proud display. Max is currently leafing through one on contraceptive methods, which they found when Takao discovered what he thought to be a box of candy. Condoms, unfortunately, have nothing in common with candy. Except, Rei was quick to point out when they found the box of 'candy', for the different flavours. Takao is sitting on the bed next to the still passed out Chief. The nurse wasn't even in her office, so the boys had simply dumped him on the bed and decided to wait it out.

So far, they have missed half an hour of class thanks to this.

"There's no way Kai just 'got used to you'," Max tells him half-mindedly, not bothering to look up from his pamphlet. His head is tilted slightly to the left as he tries to figure out something. "His gang members have known him from ages and aren't friends with him, they're just his lackeys. Also, why would you rip a condom open with your teeth?"

"You thought it was candy?" Rei answers with a cheeky grin at Takao and ducks when the other boy throws him a handful of condoms.

"It shouldn't come in colourful wrappings, okay?!" Takao bites out as an explanation, wishing sorely he couldn't still taste what Max informed him was lubricant in his mouth. "And would you just stop making a big deal out of Kai? He's just some guy with an attitude problem, that's all."

"Tell that to that kid he put in the hospital," Max says with an amused grin, putting down the pamphlet. "He's a local legend. There's gotta be more to him than 'just an attitude problem'."

Rei picks up another pamphlet at random before handing it out to Max, who has been punctuating his questioning of Takao with reading random sentences of the pamphlets until Rei guesses what it's about or Max gets bored of it. Takao, for his part, tries very hard to ignore the lecture on pamphlets. The ones about various symptoms of STDs gross him out, and unfortunately those are the ones Rei seems to pick out the most often. There is nothing right about having mushrooms down there, damn it.

"It almost sounds like you're jealous of all the attention he's getting," Rei mentions casually, observing a condom critically. "Why is it wrapped in bright pink? I doubt there's any self-respecting guy who'd pick out the one condom in the box wrapped in pink."

"I'm not jealous of Kai just because people obsess over him like he's the biggest thing since pizza," Takao retorts, standing up and crossing his arms, eyes closed as he does his best impression of Kai's voice. "Look at me. I'm dark and mysterious because I threw some paint in my face in kindergarten and kept it 'cause I thought it looked cool. I'm so badass, the walls crumble when I stare at them. I wear scarves during summer because dying of heatstroke sounds appealing to me. I--"

"Am standing right here, Kinomiya," a deep voice interrupts Takao's spiel, and Takao freezes where he stands. Oh crap, Takao thinks, panicked, I am going to die. He opens his eyes slowly, cringing, preparing himself to meet his maker and apologize to his ancestors for leading the most boring life ever and letting their line die out --

Only to find himself face to face with not Kai but Rei and Max's laughing faces as he is met with a distinct lack of Kai.

"Huh?" Takao says intelligently, turning around to see the Chief sitting behind him, laptop out and a dark smile on his face. . . . Did Kai learn to teleport in and out of his life to scare the shit out of him or something?

"Oh, man, Taka," Max manages to chortle out, holding his stomach. "You should've seen your face."

Takao decides his friends suck if all they do when he's faced with his imminent death is laugh. Takao looks up at the ceiling, trying to see if Kai was in the ventilation and spoke from there, or maybe Kai is secretly a scarier version of Spiderman. There is, however, a distinct lack of presence on the ceiling. Also, a distinct lack of ventilation, which rules that one out.

"Did Kai turn invisible?" Takao asks, because that's the only plausible explanation left, really. His question only causes Rei and Max to start another fit of laughter. Max is holding his sides, leaning against the 'pamphlet shelf', unable to hold himself upright on his own. Rei is slightly more composed but still laughing his ass off.

Bunch of jerks.

"Takao," the Chief calls, drawing back Takao's attention to him. "Kai didn't turn invisible. In fact, he was never here."

. . . Was there a Kai hologram hanging around in school? Because that was a pretty creepy idea. Not that Kai being Spiderman or invisible weren't creepy ideas, but still. His confusion must've shown on his face, because the other boy laughs and presses a key on his laptop and approaches what seems to be a -- microphone?

"So you think you're tougher than me, don't you, Kinomiya?" Kai's voice sounds out as the Chief speaks into it.

Never mind Kai holograms being creepy, this was the scariest shit he had ever seen in his entire life. Takao makes a small keening noise in the back of his throat, shooting upwards and making an X with his arms.

"That is so wrong," Takao shouts out, shaking his head wildly from side to side. "Chief with Kai's voice... Aaaaauuuuuuugh! So, so, so wrong!"

Max is by now on the floor, tears streaming down his face, still holding onto his stomach. "I give," he manages to choke out. "I give, this is too much, my ribs hurt!"

Rei grins, shooting a hand up in the air. "I call second dibs on that voice regulator of yours, Chief."

Takao's eye twitches violently. "You guys are the worst friends ever," he whines, kicking the floor. "What was the point of that, anyway?!"

The Chief sighs. "Takao... I just don't think you're taking Kai seriously," he admits, staring at his laptop. "He's more than your typical rebel."

Takao frowns, crossing his arms as he looks up with a sigh. "Geez, you act like the guy's a murderer. I'll say it one last time; stop making a big deal out of it. What's the worst that could happen?"

"I just don't want you to get hurt, Takao," the Chief says sincerely. Max and Rei share a look as Takao stares at the other boy.

"... I'm not the one currently at the nurse's office on my first day," Takao points out, and the Chief groans as the other three laugh.

Besides, Takao thinks, he can't back off now. It's too late.

~o~o~o~o~o~o~o~

The 'usual spot' is a riverbank.

There's only one river in Bey City; it runs through the entire town, separating it in two. It's not that big, a few meters in width only, but the current is strong and the river is deep enough that no one ever bathes in it. The river is low enough that the earth above it dives into an angle before going flat at the shore. The usual spot at the riverbank was never really meant to be a usual spot; but except for the classroom or the school roof (any school roof); it was the only spot he ever met Kai at, and sometime during the summer they both started calling it the 'usual spot'.

To anyone else, it would be a pretty random spot. The only thing that differentiates it from all the other usual spots is the bridge not too far from it. Underneath the bridge is where... Takao shakes his head. Ah, he's getting distracted.

Takao gets there at 3:40, twenty minutes after class lets out. It took him ten minutes to shake off Max, Rei and the Chief, who all wanted to see the usual spot -- well, okay, maybe not the Chief, since his reaction to Kai was still hiding behind the nearest object or pass out and spend an entire class 'recovering'. Not exactly the best excuse to miss class, actually: I passed out because Kai can make me pee my pants with a single look. Takao really needs to learn how he does that. Still, the teacher had actually been pretty forgiving with all of them, which only confirms that Kai is just Generally That Scary. Or something like that, Takao tries not to think about it too hard.

When he gets there, Kai is already there, standing next to the water. Of course the guy can't be sitting, that would be too normal. At least this time his scarf isn't blowing in the wind dramatically, Takao comforts himself, though that's probably because he isn't wearing it.

"Hey, Kai!" Takao calls out, letting himself slide down the hill instead of running the distance. He doesn't even try to jump on Kai -- he learned his lesson the first time he did try it. It hurt.

A lot.

"How've you been?" Takao asks when he gets next to the other boy, who doesn't even bother turning away from staring at the river. Jerk. "I haven't seen you since summer school ended, man!"

Kai turns his head ever-so-slightly to look at him, deadpan expression in place. "You saw me at lunch, Kinomiya," he answers, and Takao has to resist the urge to push him in the river. He'd tried that before, too, and also learned his lesson then. ... Sigh. One day, he'd get the best of Kai. One day.

"Kaiiiii," Takao whines. "You know what I mean! You never even gave me your phone number or address so I could see you or something."

Not that Takao ever honestly expected him to-- all he knows about Kai's life is that he lives with his grandfather. He doesn't know if Kai has any other family or even what the old man looks like. Still, maybe Kai will feel guilty and give him his phone number.

Yeah, Takao scoffs himself, also, it'll rain candy tonight.

"Because I want to be harassed 24/7 by you?" Kai drawls, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. "What am I, your babysitter?"

"Waaah, waaah," Takao whines, trying to cling to Kai and missing when the other boy takes a step back, eyes wide. Takao doesn't let this bother him, looking up at Kai with a wide and sad expression. "I want you to tell me a stowyyyy and give me some juiiiiice."

Kai looks completely disgusted by the display. Takao blinks his eyes repeatedly. "Pwease?"

"I'll throw you in the river," Kai says, and Takao knows it's not a warning so much as a fact, so he stops with a laugh.

"Aw, c'mon, Kai, lighten up a little! You gotta admit you missed me too, right? Otherwise why else would you want to spend time with me?"

Kai stares at him intensely instead of answering, and Takao tries his best to keep up his own staring. It's difficult to concentrate on staring back. Kai must have had ages of practice to keep it up for this long without being distracted. It's as if Kai is searching out and trying to read Takao's very soul. It's a bit creepy, though the Chief would probably have said terrifying. Takao doesn't think so. Sure, Kai's eyes are a weird shade of reddish purple and when he looks at you like that it's like he's concentrating all his energy at you-- Gramps would probably say his eyes are 'smouldering', or something equally romantic-- but it's just the way Kai is.

... Probably. He's more likely trying to see if he can melt Takao's brain with his eyes.

"Kaiiiii?" Takao questions after a while, growing restless.

Kai turns away from him to stare at the river with a frown. "If I hadn't come to see you, you'd have harassed the entire school about my whereabouts," he states with a shrug.

It's true, of course, but Takao still crosses his arms and pouts. "I would not," he protests. "I wouldn't even care if you didn't show up for a month." To prove this point, he sits himself down on the grass with flair, taking a pebble and throwing it in the river.

Kai shrugs again. "Alright," he says, then turns and walks away.

Takao scrambles to get up halfway, tugging at Kai's arm -- who wrenches it back, of course, but he does stop his walking away routine. "It's a jooooke, get a sense of humour already," he pouts. Kai rolls his eyes but sits next to him anyway, one knee drawn up. He rests an arm against his knee casually. Takao waits for an answer as he sits himself back down, looking at Kai out of the corner of his eyes to make sure he doesn't decide to go 'psych!' and run away or something.

They stay like this for a while, just staring out at the river. Takao ends up taking off his school blazer after a while-- the breeze is nice, but it's still pretty hot out. He spreads his legs out, bracing himself on his arms as he takes a deep breath. It's a relaxing place.

"... Who were they?" Kai asks him after a while, and Takao turns to him with a confused frown. 'They'? Kai frowns right back, his nose scrunching up a little. "Your 'table companions'," he explains, exasperated. Takao can almost see the quotation marks around the words.

"Oh! You mean my friends," Takao corrects, rolling his eyes. Trust Kai not to want to use the word. "Well, the guy who fainted was the Chief -- I told you about him, remember?"

"The nerd," Kai says, and Takao nods in agreement until he realizes exactly what Kai said.

"Hey! No!" Takao protests. "The geek."

Kai stares at him as if he's a little stupid. "Whatever," he answers, rolling his eyes. "The other two?"

"Oh, right. Maxie's the blond guy," Takao explains. "Well, technically his name is Max, but anyway, I told you about him too. ... You know, I didn't think you actually listened, but you remember Chief, so I guess you did."

"Believe me, I didn't want to," Kai mutters viciously plucking a strand of grass. Takao sticks his tongue out at him. "I'll rip it out," Kai warns, and Takao puts his back in his mouth with a squeak.

"Uh... where was I? Oh, right, the last one is Rei. He's Maxie's new friend. They met in New York. That's pretty much all I know."

Kai hums in answer and Takao looks at him curiously. "Why d'you wanna know anyway? Worried I'm dumping you for better friends?" Takao jokes, a shit eating grin in place.

"I wish I was that lucky," Kai deadpans, not even looking at Takao as he says it. Takao groans and lets himself fall on his back, disappointed. Was Kai born to make mean comebacks or something? Uuuugh.

"You're hurting my feeliiiings," Takao whines. "Would it kill you to be nice for once?"

"Yes," Kai responds with no hesitation whatsoever.

"... Well that was straightforward."

They stay like that again for a while, enjoying each other's company. When Kai isn't using his imposing persona to scare off people he's a pretty calming guy to be around, Takao thinks, breathing in the air. He's not stupid, he can see why people would be scared of Kai at first glance (or... even second or third), but really, when you get down to it, Kai is human. He's still another teenage boy, though he might have went through puberty earlier than most, considering his voice is unusually deep. So he has issues, who doesn't? It's because everyone gives him such a wide berth that Kai believes himself so superior, Takao's sure of it. He just needs someone to bring him back down to Earth and remind him what being a kid is all about. It sounds easy enough... Anyway, except for an exceptionally big ego and the whole 'gang' thing, it's not like Kai has any problems out of the ordinary, right? Right. He's totally not that complicated once you get down to it.

Kai gets up, slowly, throwing Takao out of his daydreaming. Takao sits up to stare at him as he brushes invisible grass from his pants. "Where you going?" Takao asks. "It's only..." he looks at his watch and nearly chokes."... Almost four thirty, wow. Guess I should go too before Gramps gets an aneurysm."

Takao stands up, brushing off his own pants. "Guess you have to get going to your grandfather too, huh?" Takao asks without looking up.

"... Something like that," Kai answers in a soft voice and Takao looks up at the tone with a frown. Kai's head is bowed, his eyes shadowed by his bangs -- he probably keeps his hair like this just so he can do that, the bastard.

"... You okay?" Takao asks.

Kai doesn't look up and only shrugs a shoulder, a jerky movement that proves he's way too tense for Takao only having mentioned his grandfather. What, did the old man die recently or something? "Later, Kinomiya," Kai says, turning around and walking off, leaving Takao bewildered for a moment.

"... Hey, wait--" Takao tries, but Kai doesn't stop, so he just sighs and shouts: "Hey! Will I see you tomorrow?!"

Kai doesn't pause or turns, but he answers, loud and clear:

"Who knows?"

... And that answers nothing at all, actually. Takao blinks and lets himself drop down with a groan.

Kai has got to be the most frustrating person in the entire world. There's nothing else to it. Whatever, Takao decides. Whether or not he wants to, Kai will be properly introduced to Max, Rei and the Chief and hang out with all of them. He's going to make a friend out of Kai if it kills him.

Takao just hopes the Chief doesn't pass out again when it happens. Skipping class is fun, but he really doesn't want to have to hear Max and Rei explain the workings of safe sex from a pamphlet again.

"... Wait, didn't I have kendo practice?"

Oh, crap. Gramps was going to kill him.

This chapter. This chapter did not want to write itself, god.

Alright, reminder: each second or third chapter will be SUMMER SCHOOL because the stories are working parallel. Takao is not telling this to anyone. 'Kay? It's like two stories in one! Everyone got that? Goodie.

Next chapter is supposedly the last of my intro, and thank god because 4 chapters of intro is long enough, don't you think? Except for summer school, I am taking a break after that from writing from Takao's POV, because I will end up killing myself if I only keep up with the guy. Next arc Rei gets to narrate! Isn't that a grand break? ... it is for me. Go away. ):

As always, any question and I will answer them! Also, keep in mind anything relating to school in this fic is a parody. The relationship between Kai and Takao isn't, but that's... pretty much the only thing. The nurse's office is based on the one I had in high school. ... Also, Rei is not aware girls buy condoms too. Silly Rei. :3

Hope you liked it! ...even though it is short and WOULD NOT WRITE ITSELF ):

-Zia