A.C.: two things, A) midnight snacks are awesome. B) Green tea works better than coffee, for me anyways. Safer two because it doesn't entail me feeling my head's been run over. Twice.

Yeah that's it

It snowed!

... And yeah, I won't play dead in the middle of the trail geeze.

Go on, I only wrestled with this chapter for a few weeks-!

Disclaimer: uhh no

Warnings: As always, watch out for the rampant use of grammar

For reference in case you're confused...

Ian as Ivan

Spencer as Sergei

Bryan as Boris

Boris as Balcov

Tala as Yuriy

Hiro as Hiroshi

Tyson as Takao

Hilary as Hiromi

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He woke up with grit and god-knows-what-else stuck in between his jaws. The Saint Shields had fled--tails between their legs--and left him there in the cold, gravel pit with only the crippled remains of Cyber Dragoon to keep him company. There were hands pressing down on him and he kicked, only to find wary eyes of few and brave construction workers staring down at him.

Tears come to his eyes slowly and bile rose up his throat. He rolled to his side and retched, finding nothing but saliva and a filmy white liquid stretching from his throat as he dug his nails into his palms.

Kai was right, it hadn't changed a thing.

He let out a frustrated sob and stumbled to his feet. His eyes grazed over the upturned ground and still burning earth. He thought he might have seen a shadow or two flickering at the corners of his vision. Red on orange-yellow as they called to him beckoned him--they still needed him.

He swallowed the air and crushed his bit beast beneath his heels.

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Takao opened and closed his mouth several times but failed to form a coherent word. The most he got out was a strangled 'why...?' before he stopped, unable to continue. In the meantime, Brooklyn chatted amiably on the other end and mentioned in passing that a storm was heading his way in the nearest future. Kai wasn't sure if he was being figurative or literal--and it looked like he was about to find out. In the background he heard small clinks of two objects colliding with each other, perhaps ice against the glass. He could imagine the cat-eyed blader hidden away in a tropical island somewhere reading out the events yet unfulfilled. Kai shivered as a particularly stiff breeze entered through the window and swirled around the room. Takao had yet to move from his spot in the doorway.

Then with a cheerful 'bye' Brooklyn disconnected before Kai could protest and a dull dial tone replaced where his voice had been moments ago, deafening his ears. He calmly folded the phone and placed it back on the bedside table. He placed his feet on the cold floor despite the aching protests of his head as he took a moment to regain his equilibrium. The 72 percent cacao chocolate bar Hiroshi had given him fell out of his lap and landed on the floor. Kai met the blunette's unsettling gaze evenly, privately wondering where the hell his clothes were--not that he would be wearing them anytime in the future--and when Hiroshi had the time to remove the torn clothing and dress him up in spare--too big--pajamas. From the look of things, Takao recognized the articles of his clothing.

He knelt down, eyes still focused on Takao even when the room shifted--spun as if they were on some freaky rollercoaster ride--fingering the thick paper cover of the chocolate bar. The long sleeve came rolling down his arm, effectively covering his hands. Out of habit, he shoved the chocolate bar up against his wrist and stood up, intent on getting the hell out of Hiroshi's room.

"W... what are you doing here?"

"I was in the neighborhood," Kai started sarcastically, "thought I'd visit."

"Visit who?" The blunette's face creased and wrinkled, corners of his lips lifting to bare baby fangs. Kai raised an eyebrow at this development, the mild anxiety that came with conversing with Brooklyn dissipating completely. Shrugging, he sought to pass Takao and get out of the room.

"Does it matter?"

"YES!" Apparently the Dragoon blader had other ideas. The younger teen wrenched Kai's wrist to the side and pushed him towards the bed. Kai faltered in his steps, one foot landing in a wrong angle. He corrected the mistake but by then Takao had crowded him into a corner, seeming to have grown spontaneously within the few seconds.

Anger did that to you--Kai thought privately and threw the chocolate bar at the blunette's face. Takao yelped, more out of surprise than actual pain, and let out a strangled groan when Kai slugged him across the jaw. It didn't last long--something about the Kinomiya gene and thick heads. The blow didn't hurt as much as it should have. Takao was still hesitating, even with the three years of bottled up abandonment, betrayal, and anger; Takao was still hesitant before his former team leader. Kai had no such qualms. His head buzzed unpleasantly as he shoved the blunette away with an open palm. His knuckles burned belatedly, like that of a healing bruise being prodded repetitively.

"Is this why you've been avoiding me, throwing me off..." Takao's eyes flashed violet and indigo as he leaped on the slate-haired teen and sent them both crashing against the ground. Kai let out a muffled grunt as the younger teen's heavier frame landed against his back. He felt his lower lip split open at the impact and quickly sought to scramble out of Takao's grip, his fingers slipping on the smeared blood.

Takao breathed hard and punched Kai hard across the cheekbones. To his credit, Kai didn't even make a sound as he rolled his hips to buck the younger teen off. Takao simply hit him again and straddled his waist, fingers scrambling to find a purchase on the all too pale neck. "You should have just told me!" His nails dug into the soft underside of Kai's jaw. The auburn-eyed teen kicked, a pained grimace crossing his features as he struggled to breathe beneath Takao's grip.

"...Do... you think... I wanted this...?" The expression on Takao's face was ugly, his feelings uglier, but the blunette teen felt as though this would be the only way he would find out, the only way to make the stubborn older boy talk. So he tightened his grip, unfaltering even when Kai's leg began to shake. Even when before his rose-filtered eyes, the split lip began to heal, the drying blood cracking over the firm surface.

Takao quickly threw himself off and scrambled backwards against the door using his hands. Kai gasped as his chest expanded slightly to accommodate the extra mouthfuls of air. He shivered, the pajama shirt slipping down his shoulders and laying it bare against the hard floor. "Do you think I cared enough about what'd happen to you if you knew?" He wiped the blood from his mouth, the skin around his neck burning even as the black and purple bruises faded into sickly yellow until even that disappeared. "But Hiroshi does." He stood up, shaking and the blue-eyed teen saw stark lines crisscrossing his collarbone. "He cares enough to keep you from making a total ass of yourself."

"Loving someone isn't a mistake." Loyalty soon won over anger--and fear?--and Takao reached out only to have Kai flinch away from him. His face burned in shame, his pockets burned. He took out Dragoon's white bey and saw that it was reacting almost violently, the bit-core quivering in its slot--Seiryu was trying to get out. Kai stared wide eyed, a deeper red creeping over his auburn irises.

"Fool."

Hiroshi burst in upon the scene, a plastic laundry basket in his hands. He quickly dropped the still-warm load and hid Kai from Takao's view. He muttered quick words, most of them flying over the younger Kinomiya's head. The glow of his bit beast had died away, its plastic confinements still radiating warmth. Kai quickly swiped the orange-and-white jacket from the laundry basket.

"You shouldn't have brought me here."

"I didn't know he'd be back so soon."

"You're his brother bastard; you're supposed to keep an eye on him."

"Kai..."

"Don't dammit, don't touch me. I'm not helping you fix this...!"

"You can't keep doing this to yourself!"

Kai shoved his arms into the sleeves of his jacket--the only thing Hiroshi had been able to save aside from his socks. He glared at Takao in an attempt to get him out of the doorway. The blunette stood his ground and glared back, stomping the floor with his feet as if to make a point.

"No! I'm not going anywhere. I don't care what Hiroshi thinks! Loving you isn't wrong!"

The slate-haired teen snorted, quelling the laughter in his throat.

"Loving me..." lips pressed down to a thin line. Kai turned his head briefly to toss a calculated glance over his shoulder, "well there you have it. I haven't told him anything, not yet. Your move, Jin of Gale." And almost to himself Kai added, "Prove us right."

-

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"Saint Shields?"

"Always to the point ain't ya? Decimated, Falborg couldn't find them anywhere besides a few stragglers being rounded up by police. The place by the docks are empty, we might have had the sighting of one of the blonde ones..."

"The one that did us in back in America?"

"Dunno, the image resolutions were crap but I guess the skin tones were similar. She did see Yamashita Kane, former leader of Psykicks. He was heading towards the hospital." And before Yuriy could ask Boris continued on graciously, "Kinomiya Hiroshi's on him. I'm not sure how that'll turn out."

The redhead was silent. He tossed Suzaku's bit into the air and caught it before handing it to Ivan. Ivan took it wordlessly and clenched it in his fist. The platinum-haired Russian ventured, "I guess he didn't need that back up after all." Yuriy waited for the elevator to come up and Boris rambled on, "But you knew that he'd be alright, so why... are you here fearless leader?"

The elevator came to a screeching stop on their floor. Yuriy climbed on, Ivan and Boris right behind him.

"He wouldn't let me touch him." Yuriy admitted earning a lewd grin from Boris. The now tallest member on their team preceding--Yuriy by an additional half inch--turned towards its shortest member and said,

"Some guys just can't get a clue. Usually when people do that it tells you that you're being a stubborn ass..."

Yuriy bristled noticeably and Boris raised his hands.

"He kissed me but he wouldn't touch me."

"How the hell's that possible?"

"Wait, when you said that he wouldn't let you touch him, you mean that he wouldn't allow skin-to-skin contact?" Ivan frowned. The elevator dropped to the first floor. "So whatever he did, it was temporary..."

"Huh," Boris commented, looking down on the blunette. "So the fainting thing..."

"I don't faint."

"Sure."

"When he left, he looked as if he was going to die." Yuriy snarled. Ivan jumped sideways bumping into Boris' legs. The taller Russian shot him an annoyed look.

"If you haven't noticed, he gets that look every other month." Boris pointed out dryly, "and correct me if I'm wrong here but... does that mean Kuro Suzaku is... back?"

"Kuro Suzaku has always been with us, awake or otherwise asleep." Ivan said, offering a crooked grin, "It wasn't something Kai could just throw away. He's stuck with it, I guess for life."

Boris frowned,

"How does sex work?"

Ivan gave him an irritated shove. Yuriy stiffened, staring at his--slightly--taller friend. His eyes narrowed until only a glimpse of the icy blue was visible through his dark lashes.

" Brooklyn..."

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Hiroshi decided he really didn't need to justify his actions to his younger brother again. But Takao was blocking the doorway and Kai was looking elsewhere, finding the open window promising. Migraine settled over the man's head and his shoulders slumped. He glowered at the cell phone on the bedside table before snapping a curt,

"Get out of the way Takao."

The blunette shook his head viciously much like a small terrier. Kai looked away bored, it was between the two Kinomiyas now. "You don't love him, he doesn't love you."

"You don't know that!" with each word, Takao's face flushed further until it was as red as the vest he was wearing. The younger Kinomiya stepped forward pointing an accusatory finger in his face. "You think you know everything but you don't! How do I know that you don't just want him for yourself?!"

"Because I'm not that sick and twisted."

"I didn't know you were homophobic." Takao muttered bitterly. He took his cap off and wrung it in his hands. Hiroshi remembered that he had given it to the boy a long time ago, before he had left to wander the world alone.

'Big words...'

Hiroshi flinched as the thought brushed up against him. Kai flashed a quiet smirk before returning to his brooding pose. Dragoon, still in the blunette's hand, began to glow again.

"I'm not."

Then they were big brother and little brother again, Takao giving him a pathetic look with his moist eyes begging him to make things right. Hiroshi resisted initially, trying to hint at the slate-haired teen beside him to leave.

'Coward...'

'Damn right I am.'

And Kai staggered as if he had been physically hit. Hiroshi took perverse pleasure in watching the stubborn teen pale into a color whiter than his sheets. "But I can't allow you to have this... relationship Takao."

"Kai's my friend. Even if..."

"Don't say it if you don't mean it."

"I do mean it, I do. And I want him to know... what I feel... about him."

"No"

"Hiroshi...!"

'Tell him why. It won't stop unless you tell him why. Tell him the truth. Tell him who I am and who you are. Tell him about the darkness, tell him, tell him.'

'No'

Hiroshi doubled over, his hand pressing over his eyes frantically in an attempt to drown out the light. Takao was by his side instantly, holding him up as his legs threatened to collapse over themselves. Kai watched without a hint of morose, his legs stretching automatically and carrying him towards the wooden doorway.

'Then I will.'

"Even in Japan," Kai said out loud, nonchalance belying the conflict his form. "Incestuous relationships between siblings are illegal. And I suppose, even though he's denied it for so long. He can't ignore the truth of our blood when it's been laid out in front of him."

There is laughter

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Ayatsuji- no worries, I can only imagine what goes on in universities, you guys are probably under piles of homework at this point (good luck with that) can't say I envy ya –mock shudder- my sleeping pattern's been screwed can you tell? ;D

I like possessive-evil-Brooklyn. Brooklyn wouldn't be Brooklyn without being otherwise possessive and ebil P glad you liked it.

...And damn, Kai and Yuriy haven't been exactly hopping to it like bunnies –screws up face- Dragon Balls can only go so far, wonder if it specializes in relationship problems. Heh... where do you get Dragon Balls in the first place?

Ooh I'll just get the Namek ones and get three for one deal xD

YuriyTalaIvanov- Hiroshi (gotta remember that Hiroshi dammit!) is a stalker –tries to keep a straight face but fails- just kidding. Guess he got lucky. And Kai isn't exactly scared of Tyson/Takao. Just a little skittish, talking to your other stalker on the phone will do that to you.

Season Two featured the Saint Shields as semi-antagonists who wanted the Japanese team's bit beasts to seal into a hunk of rock. They're back at it again in this story. Tiring but yeah, nothing personal. They just like bothering people for no good reason.

And yeah, looks like the picture's still on him.

Pikke Wood- FFN's trying to keep me out, keeps crashing on me. Makes a nice excuse to not update for a month doesn't it? -Laughs- don't worry, Tala gets Kai in the end -mutters- I hope.

Ma.anda- if you look at chapter – you'll see that the pendant is actually an empty bit. They were using it to shield themselves from the dark... or whatever it is that Kai's been doing. I don't think the italicized writings belong to anyone in particular; they're stray thoughts passing through.

-Tries to keep a straight face, fails- Hiroshi is a stalker -coughs-

...Just kidding

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A.C.: thanks everyone for the reviews-! Yep I've given you a lot to swallow hmm...

(Yeah... I did imply that the three are blood relatives up there -nods-)

...I've just realized that I've been calling Hiroshi... Hitoshi... who's Hitoshi? –hangs head in shame-