Reviews: Thanks so much; DarkBombayAngel, pheonix80, sasukechica, Surrealtraversity, dark-phoenix-4eva, MintCa, Petalwhisker X Fireheart, Neko-chan desu desu, Blaze Queenie, marishka91, Painted Ys, sweetylulu, the Light Shadow, MikaMiko, babyvicz, SherryBird, OnlyNotReally, black angel falling, FallenHope-Angel, Rapunzelle, Affectionate-Loon, Tenshi of Freedom and The Cattan Wolf for taking the time to review! I 'heart' you all! X3

I don't think the Blitz boys will make an appearance in this fic. I kinda want to keep the focus on Kai and his relationships with Grev and Hiro at this point in time. I'm sure you know what I mean, right?

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter. And be forewarned, there's a terrible cliff-hanger at the end X3

Chapter 11:

Unanswered Questions

Normally, a trip to the park was something that brought smiles to both Kai and Toshiro's faces, but today, Kai can only bring himself to smile half-heartedly. He loves watching Toshiro run around with the other kids, acting happy and carefree like all children should, but he can't help the way his mind seems intent on tormenting him, reminding him how his world of denial and illusions came crashing down.

He still can't believe that after four years absence, Hiro just comes waltzing back into his life and expect to pick up where they left off.

If that egotistical man thought it would be that easy for Kai to forget the countless nights where he had stayed away in bed, wondering if something bad had happen to him; he has another thing coming!

He can't believe the arrogance of that man, kissing him passionately like that and then accusing him of sleeping with some slut to get Toshiro! He has been faithful the entire time, even with Ray and Tyson offering to take Hiro's place in his heart. Either male is a much better choice than Hiro himself.

Still, this blasted heart of his won't let his head take control over who he should be in love with.

"What is wrong with me?" Kai asks himself softly as he presses the palm of his hand against his forehead, the memory of that abrupt but passionate kiss he shared with Hiro just this morning filling his mind.

Even though he'd soon bite off his own tongue than admit that he enjoyed it, he would be lying to himself if he said he didn't. He did enjoy that kiss and against his better judgement, he wants to share another kiss with the stupid man.

Oh, why does life have to be so complicated right now?

"Kai?"

The sound of a familiar voice pulls Kai from his musings, his eyes widening ever-so slightly in surprise that Tyson, of all people, managed to sneak up on him. This whole Hiro suddenly reappearing in his life seems to be messing with his head something serious.

"Oh, hey Tyson," Kai says as he looks up from his sitting position on the park bench, watching with ruby red eyes as Tyson moves to take a seat next to him.

"You left the house pretty upset this morning," Tyson says with a hint of concern, as well as something Kai can't quite put his finger on, in his voice. "I just thought I better check up on you."

"Oh, I'm just thinking, you know?" Kai says as he tries to sound dismissive, not wanting to burden Tyson with his worries. "Hiro's appearance kinda took me by surprise, as it did everyone else as well, I suppose."

Suddenly, Tyson places his arm around Kai's shoulders and pulls him close. Kai immediately stiffens and tries to pull away, but Tyson's grip is firm and Kai can even feel a sense of possessiveness in his presence.

A wince flitters across Kai's face when he realizes that Hiro's sudden reappearance has probably brought out Tyson and Ray's competitive streaks, not wanting to 'lose' to Hiro again.

Great, as if life isn't complicated enough as it is. He now has to deal with three males trying to 'woo' him over. Add in the fact that he doesn't 'love' two of them and the man he's still madly in love with abandoned him, you've got yourself a recipe for uncountable stress for Kai to handle.

"What are you doing?" Kai asks, even though he knows the answer to that question.

"It looked like you needed some comfort," Tyson says casually as he shifts a little closer.

"Tyson..." Kai says apprehensively, knowing the type of comfort Tyson likes to give and knows that it's not appropriate at this point in time, especially not with the way his mind is currently befuddled with unnerving emotions and thoughts.

And his weariness of the other male proves true when Tyson quickly leans forward to press their lips together rather forcefully, causing Kai to tense himself further.

Although this isn't the first time Tyson has kissed him suddenly, he has always been impulsive, no matter how many times he tries to coax him to kiss back; Kai just can't bring himself to do it. Tyson's kisses are harder and executed far more hastily than Hiro's deep, slow and explorative kisses. As with everything else in his life, the younger Granger brother doesn't like to take things slow and likes to immediately jump in.

Placing his hands on Tyson's face, Kai pushes him back and away from him, adamantly forcing the abrupt kiss to a swift end. "Tyson, stop, that wasn't fair," he says as he tries to keep his anger in check.

A mild sense of displeasure appears in Tyson's gaze for a moment and he is reluctant to let Kai move away from him. "What?"

However, Kai manages to disentangle himself from Tyson's grip and moves away a little. "Don't take advantage of me like that."

"I'm just comforting you," Tyson says quite plainly, appearing as if he doesn't know why Kai is acting this way.

A sense of annoyance appears in Kai's chest at that statement and he pushes himself further away from the other male, a frown gracing his lips. "This isn't the type of comfort I need," he tells him tersely, wishing that he could, for once, have someone to talk to that won't be bias towards him or try to use this uncharacteristic moment of weakness to their advantage.

Bruce and Gramps, although two of the greatest help a single parent could ask for, are related to Hiro, so it would be wrong of him to rant and rave about how Hiro abandoned him to them or about how much of a bastard he thinks he is. It would make them feel awkward and ultimately make them question themselves on what they did to make Hiro into such a selfish wanderer.

He can't talk to Ray and Tyson the way he would like as they seem too willing to agree with him, hoping to score brownie points of some kind, hoping that if they agree with him enough, he would forget about Hiro and fall in love with one of them.

He doesn't feel comfortable enough to speak with Kenny or Hilary, and Daichi, forget it! He also doesn't want to burden Mr. Dickinson with his problems, and he can't rant and rave to his childhood friends, the Blitz boys as they would only agree and spend the next few minutes coming up with ideas to make Hiro pay.

The only person he can talk to isn't here at the moment.

"You know I'm feeling confused right now," Kai tells the blue-haired male next to him with a disapproving glance.

"You're not the only one confused."

Dread suddenly settles in the pit of Kai's stomach and he slowly turns around in his seat, his eyes immediately colliding with those of deep and wise mahogany. "Hiro?" he whispers softly when he realizes that the older male as this look of utter annoyance with an underlining of jealousy on his face.

"Oh, hey Hiro," Tyson greets, a little bit too tersely for Kai's likening as he knows whenever Tyson uses that tone of voice, there's going to be an argument of some kind to come.

Narrowing his eyes into an accusing look, Hiro folds his arms over his chest in a commanding way. "What's going on here?" he says in a way that isn't so much as a question, but more as a demand.

"What does it look like?" Tyson simpers back at him.

Kai doesn't know why he is suddenly feeling nervous and guilty, his heart rapidly beating in his chest. It's not like he has done anything wrong that should warrant him feeling a sense of guilt. He isn't dating anyone at the moment and Tyson kissed him first.

It's not like he and Hiro are dating and Hiro just caught his lover in a scandalous position with his own brother.

But Hiro does seem to be glaring with a huge amount of annoyance at Tyson as he seemingly protectively stands over the two of them.

"Nothing's going on," Kai says stiffly as he climbs to his feet, the urgency to leave the two brothers overriding all other senses. "Now, if you excuse me, I'm going to check on Toshiro."

Before either Granger brother could make a sound of protest, Kai abruptly turns on his heel and quickly walks away, pressing his lips into a thin line when he can feel two sets of eyes literally boring into his back.

Running a hand through his hair, Kai mutters darkly under his breath when he realizes that his stress levels have just increased at the thought of the two brothers quarrelling with each other...over him.

"I really don't need this shit right now," Kai murmurs to himself as he watches Toshiro from a distance as he plays with a blue ball he must have found from somewhere. That carefree smile that always seems to grace Toshiro's features is still in place, causing Kai to sigh with relief that his son isn't aware of the tense situation happening around him.

"Hey, Kai!"

Looking up at the sound of his name and the familiar tone of voice, his relief increases further when he finds his sight filled with the familiar form of the ever friendly and optimistic Max waving at him.

Oh, he has never been so happy to see the blonde at this moment in time. Max is the only one of his first original teammates that isn't in love with him. He can hug the blonde whenever he wants and not have to worry that Max will think it's the green light to take things further with him.

No, Max is just a friend, a good friend who loves him, but he isn't in love with him.

He needs to have a good, long chat with Max afterwards. He's had a surprisingly confusing and eventful day, and it's only lunch time!

-----------------------------------------

Hiro watches in silence for a moment as Kai walks away, his posture tenser than he had seen before. Jealousy settles in his chest when he turns his attention to his little brother, gritting his teeth when his mind replays the scene of Tyson kissing Kai over and over again.

He never thought there would be a day where he's jealous of his little brother.

"Is there something going on between you and Kai?" he asks stiffly, giving Tyson as much hostility as he appears to be giving him.

Tyson folds his arms over his chest and takes to his feet, no longer the pudgy teen he was once known for, instead stood a confident, if not slightly arrogant young man. "Why do you want to know?"

Hiro tightens his jaw, trying his best not to sneer at his younger sibling. "You know why I want to know."

The corners of Tyson's mouth twitches into a seemingly teasing grin. "Jealous?"

"Answer me, Tyson," Hiro says with a level voice as he has to literally bite the inside of his mouth to stop himself from bristling.

"Fine, fine," Tyson says as he throws his arms into the air in a sign of defeat. "I love Kai and yet, for some reason, he doesn't return my feelings. In fact, he hasn't dated anyone since you left. Although, he has had plenty of opportunities to do so."

Hiro immediately feels a sense of protective jealousy settle in his chest and he clenches his hands into fists by his sides. "What do you mean?"

"You're not the only one who thinks Kai is beautiful," Tyson says as he shoves his hands into his pockets and moves to brush by him. "Better watch yourself, Hiro. Someone might come in and sweep Kai off his feet."

Despite knowing that Tyson's warning is suppose to leave him stinging with anger, Hiro finds that there is a sense of hope appearing in his stomach. Kai hasn't dated anyone since he left four years ago, does that mean he still has feelings of some kind for him?

Before he has a chance to ponder that thought further, he feels something touch his ankle and he looks down to see a small ball resting by his feet. A moment later a certain young child appears, stunning red eyes and a bright childish smile looking up at him.

Ignoring the resentment that he doesn't know Toshiro's true origin, Hiro finds himself bending down to the little guy's level and smiling at him. He studies the child for a moment, noting that Toshiro has Kai's beautiful eyes, and yet his hair is nothing like Kai's. It's a light blue, nothing like Kai's exotic stormy gray and midnight blue tresses.

If he didn't know better, he could say Toshiro has his hair, but he quickly pushes that thought aside. That's just not possible, right?

"Hey there, kiddo," Hiro greets with a smile as the child picks up the ball and holds it in his tiny hands.

Those red eyes blink at him for a moment before his already cheerful expression brightens further. "Hello!"

A chuckle escapes Hiro's lips at the little one's greeting, noting with a sense of warm at how happy the child appears. Kai must be a wonderful parent, not that's any surprise. "You're a bright one, aren't you?"

"Papa says I'm special," Toshiro says happily, his eyes falling shut as he continues to smile brightly.

"I'm sure he does," Hiro says as he continues to chuckle, starting to understand why Kai is so adamant that this child comes first in everything. He's so cute! "You love you papa a lot, don't you?"

"Yep!" Toshiro says as he suddenly holds the ball up over his head. "He says that I have a Papa like him, and a daddy who's an explorer."

Hiro blinks in surprise. "…Really?"

"Yep!" Toshiro continues, completely naïve of Hiro's confusion. "He tells me that he loves me all the time! He also says that daddy loves me too, but I haven't met him yet. Hmm, I wonder where daddy is? Oh well!"

With his brow creasing into an expression of utter bewilderment, Hiro watches as Toshiro lowers the ball and runs away, laughing brightly and cheerfully. What did the small child mean about having a papa and a daddy? He seems to know the difference between the two names as he always refers to Kai as papa, but Hiro has never heard him call anyone daddy.

Why would Kai tell his own son that he has two fathers?

Again, that causes more questions to arise. What did Kai mean by Toshiro never having a mother? He's no scientist of doctor, but even he knows it takes a man and a woman to create a life, and he knows firsthand that Kai is all male.

Surely, Kai must be playing a few mind games with him as punishment for taking off and staying away as long as he did.

It's not like he had a choice in the matter, he…rather not think about that right now.

Suddenly, a childish squeal of delight pulls Hiro from his musings and he looks up just in time to watch a certain blonde ample into the park, a familiar line of freckles dancing across his cheeks.

It's Max.

A soft smile graces Hiro's lips, but with a strange sensation of jealousy in his chest when Toshiro runs over to Max, only to have Max swoop down and pick the little one up in his arms and holds him high in the air, the kid squealing and laughing with utter delight as Max throws him on his shoulder, rough housing with him.

"Take it easy with my boy, Max," Kai says in a stern tone of voice, but there's this underlying sense of amusement as well.

"Kai!" Max says happily as he places Toshiro down onto his feet and then suddenly places his hands on Kai's sides, around his waist and effortlessly hoists the shorter male into the air, swinging him around as he laughs. "Missed you."

Kai first makes a noise of surprise before a genuine laugh passes his lips and he grabs onto Max's shoulders to give himself a sense of balance. No matter what mood he's in, Max's enthusiasm for life always manages to bring a smile to his face.

"Missed you to," Kai replies with a chuckle as Toshiro giggles and laughs at the sight of his papa in a very funny position with his favorite uncle. "But can you put me down?"

"I thought I heard Max's voice," Hiro says as he approaches the small group, watching in amusement when Max places Kai down onto his feet to openly gape at him. "They weren't joking when they said you've grown."

"Hiro!" Max says loudly in surprise. "You're back!"

Hiro laughs lightly in amusement that some things never change. Max is as bright and bubbly as ever. "Yeah, I'm back."

An expression of excitement flitters across Max's features and he quickly turns to Kai, seemingly seeking confirmation for what he is seeing. But then that excitement dims a little when Kai gives him a forceful smile.

They seem to share a silent conversation where Kai shakes his head slowly, almost sadly as he picks Toshiro up in his arms and hugs him closely for a moment. A frown appears on Max's features for a moment before his expression reverts back to his ever happy-puppy grin and he promptly gives Hiro a huge hug.

Kai watches the scene with Max firing off rapid and random questions to Hiro, his heart clenching tightly in his chest. Hiro is chuckling and smiling that charming smile of his, enjoying Max's company and enthusiasm.

God, he's as handsome as ever. No wonder his heart won't let him love anyone else.

"Papa?" Toshiro says as he begins to wriggle in his arms, eager to get back on his feet to play again. "I wanna play."

"Of course," Kai says as he places his son back on the grass, running his fingers through his hair. "You be careful, ok?"

"Kay!" Toshiro says as he immediately picks up his ball and takes off running again.

Kai watches his son for a moment before realizing that there seems to be someone watching him and he turns around to find Hiro looking at him, Max surprisingly nowhere in sight.

"He's a cute kid," Hiro suddenly says, causing Kai to smile softly at the complement before he has a chance to stop himself.

"He is," Kai agrees as he causally folds his arms over his stomach, trying to hide his nerves at being alone in Hiro's presence again. No matter how much time has passed, Hiro can make him feel weak at the knees with a mere glance.

And the stupid sod just knows it, too.

"Where's Max?"

"Gone to drop a few things off at home," Hiro explains as he cautiously takes a step forward, seemingly waiting to see what Kai's reaction might be. "Apparently he only arrived in the country this morning."

"I see," Kai says, unable to bring himself to step away from Hiro, yet not wanting him to get too close; he's close enough as it is and he knows that the older male is most likely already planning his next trip.

A scream of pain suddenly rips through the somewhat casual atmosphere and Kai immediately whips around toward the source of the voice and to his horror, recognizing it to belong to none other than his own son. His heart literally stops beating in his chest, his lungs constricting and his eyes widening in unadulterated fear when he sees his once lively and bubbly son laying face first on the grass, not moving, yet moaning in pain.

"Toshiro!"

Cliff-hanger! Mwahaha!

Kai: -pulls out a sharp katana- What have you done to my son?!

Eeek! Don't hurt me, Kai! Someone help?! –runs away-

Please review.