Title: Obsession
Author: PandaPjays
Chapter Title: Hating You
Rating: T
Warnings: Yaoi. KaiRei TalaBryan if you don't like, don't read it. Fairly creepy themes and violence towards the end.
Disclaimer: If anyone has ever thought I owned Beyblades they were WRONG. I just like stealing the characters and using for my own amusement
Author Note: Eh heh heh heh. I'm back? I'm sorry about the wait but have just discovered that senior school is NOTHING compared to year 12 where everything counts and if I fail in any way I will never get to university and become a second-rate circus clown with bad clown makeup.
And since I'm afraid of clowns I've decided that that path is seriously not for me.
I've also got another motive for releasing the chapter now. It's my birthday at the end of the week and so you can't threaten me with nonstop My Little Pony reruns for being so slow about that updating thing. Or at least that's the idea.
...Love me?
Kai sighed as he stepped into the shower and turned on the water, hoping that it would make him feel more alive. He closed his eyes and tried to lose himself in the warmth of the water hitting him.
His sleepless night had left him feeling like crap with some shit on the side. However, whenever he dared to venture back into his bed to try and sleep his mind had been plagued with visions of Mariah taking his Rei away from him.
'You wouldn't let that happen, would you?' The voice of Rei asked over the sound of the shower. 'You would protect me, wouldn't you?' the voice asked again after a pause.
Kai opened his eyes to see the hazy figure of Rei in the steam caused by the water, unnervingly fully clothed yet not getting wet.
The figure moved closer, its outline becoming more blurred as it moved closer to Kai. 'Wouldn't you?' It asked a note of hurt in its voice.
Kai blinked, the hot water beginning to burn his skin. This isn't real. He tried to tell himself. Rei's not here, you know it. He reached for the hot water faucet and turned it up, trying to reach the clarity of thought that once had only required the water to be tolerably hot.
Kai watched as the blurred figure stepped back, its features becoming more defined in the new haze of smoke. 'Kai?' It asked; making the bluenette shiver as his name passed the lips of Rei for the first time, real or imagined. 'Don't you love me anymore?'
This time, Kai found his voice. "I-" He started. "O-of course." He stammered, pressing his back against the blessedly cool glass of the shower wall. "I just…"
'You just?' Rei asked, hurt still evident in his voice as he moved closer to Kai, this time his features remaining defined.
"I just…don't know how." Kai said, looking away from Rei's face and into the steam surrounding him.
'Don't lie.' Rei admonished gently.
Kai looked up into the eyes of the vision-Rei and lost himself briefly in the golden depths he had so often tried to capture on camera. "But I don't want to hurt you." He said quietly. "I love you."
The eyes softened and Kai felt a ghost hand run down his cheek to rest on his shoulder lightly. 'Prove it.' Rei's voice challenged before Kai's hand reached for the hot water faucet again, turning it up so the steam overwhelmed him and the ghost Rei.
Kai gasped as the pure hot water hit his skin and coughed as the water-laden air filled his lungs. He reached for the door to the shower and struggled with it for a few seconds before it opened, letting the cold air of the outside into the shower. Kai coughed again as the unbearably hot and moist air in his lungs gave way to bitingly cold.
Kai blinked as the change of temperature made his world spin and his knees weak. He collapsed in an untidy heap, barely registering the pain of the fall as his world faded into black.
-o-
For once, Rei was grateful for his cursed alarm.
Rei sighed as he let the annoying beep of his alarm wash over him, chasing away the fear of his nightmare.
At least, he thought it had been a nightmare. There was nothing else that could explain the sense of fear that still clung to his body but he couldn't actually remember what about the dream had actually frightened him.
Rei hit his alarm, silencing it's cries for attention. He sighed as the expected tiredness made itself known. He'd only managed to fall asleep a few hours before.
And I had a nightmare. He thought grumpily, rolling off his bed and onto his pile of pillows. Figures.
Rei sat in his pile for a second before sighing and forcing himself to stand. He physically shook himself to try and shake off the lingering fear.
His alarm began beeping again.
Rei growled and lashed out at it, knocking both it and a glass of water off his bedside table.
He grumbled as he scooped up the clock and placed it roughly back on his table. He looked at the glass on the ground, innocently floating in the puddle of water surrounding it. He looked away, taking the 'I can't see it, it doesn't exist' approach.
He noted that the face of his alarm clock was now blinking with nothing that resembled numbers.
"Perfect" He muttered, walking towards his coffee machine with purpose. He turned on the machine and leant on his kitchen counter, closing his eyes and rubbing them.
He had to appear somewhat alive.
-o-
"You look dead." Lee said flatly as Rei walked into the café.
Rei made a face at the chef. "You're so kind." He said sarcastically as he threaded his way through the stacked tables and chairs in the front of the café on autopilot.
Tala popped up behind the counter of the café where he'd been doing some very important organisation of the pens. He started when he saw Rei's face. "I hate to agree with Lee..." The redhead grinned when Rei shot him a glare.
"I seriously should just fire you all." Rei muttered, closing his eyes and rubbing them as they burned from lack of sleep.
"You wouldn't seriously do that? Would you?" Mariah asked from where she was struggling to move a table to the outside courtyard.
"Just the two comedians." Rei said, rather pleased that he'd had enough cognitive ability to come up with a name for the dynamic duo.
Mariah smiled as Bryan moved to help her with the stubborn table. "Well that's alright then." She said with a smirk, ignoring the glare her brother directed at her.
"Isn't Spencer coming again today?" Lee shot back, earning himself an instantly tomato-faced Mariah.
"Shut up!" She said as she let go of the table Bryan had been helping her with. It landed on the Russian's foot, giving way to an increasingly violent and imaginative string of curses.
"She's hasn't shut up about it all night." Lee said with a smirk, ignoring Bryan and watching the pink haired girl's face turn an even deeper shade of red.
"Seriously?" Tala asked as he pressed the mug of coffee he'd made for Rei into the Chinese man's hands. "That's kind of cute!"
"Isn't it?" Lee asked, forgetting who he was talking to.
Rei just blinked, gripping on to his hot mug as he felt a headache forming. "I'm going into my office." He muttered, taking a sip from his scalding cup.
When not even a little bit of a coffee buzz graced his system Rei scowled. "This is what happens when you drink too much of this crap." He muttered under his breath as he pushed through the doors joining the café to the kitchen.
Rei inhaled deeply, trying to ground himself in the smells of the kitchen getting ready for the day. He made a beeline for his office.
-o-
Rei sighed as he flopped into his chair. He'd made sure to buy the most comfortable chair he could find when he had set up his office. He had never been more grateful for his forethought.
The Chinese man shut his eyes as he felt the leather of his chair mould to the shape of his body. He relaxed against the headrest and tried to will his body to sleep.
"What's up?"
…Or not.
Rei cracked open one eye to regard Lee. "Ngrh." He answered, closing his eye again.
Lee rolled his eyes. "Seriously, what's up?"
"Tired." Rei muttered, refusing to open his eyes.
"No shit, Sherlock."
Rei's lips twitched into a half-smile and he opened his eyes to regard Lee. "I didn't sleep well last night." Rei bit his lip as the half-remembered fear of his nightmare washed over him. "Have you ever woken up and felt like something bad is going to happen?"
"Sure. It never does though. Bad things generally happen when you don't expect them."
Rei's half smile turned into a full one. "You better be right."
"Always am."
Rei rolled his eyes. "Narcissist." He paused for a second, considering something. "Shouldn't you be cooking or something?"
Lee shook his head with a derisive snort. "I have my pleb to do menial tasks like that."
"Your job's a menial task?"
"It is when I make Tala do it." Lee said with a wicked grin. "I get all the good jobs."
"Like?" Rei asked, faintly amused.
"I bake cakes."
Rei looked sideways at the cook, trying to gauge if he was joking, "You-"
"Bake cakes." Lee said with a nod.
Rei nodded slowly. "And… how long did you train to be a chef?"
Lee blinked as he considered the question. "Since I could string enough words together to convince my mother that I wouldn't cut of my pinkie with the butcher's knife."
"…And now you bake cakes."
"Exactly" Lee almost purred. "It's kind of like how you get to the pinnacle of your career and then you retire."
Rei nodded slowly, trying not to startle Lee with any sudden movements and restraining himself by making said sudden movements out of the door and as far away from the Chinese man as possible. "Right then…"
"Kind of like you're going to abandon sitting in here and moping while doing boring manager things and are going to go out there and be with people? You remember them? You'll like them." Lee assured, forcibly pulling Rei out of his comfortable comfortable chair.
Rei blinked at the subject change and the manoeuvre, trying to dig his heels in. "What? No! I-"
-o-
"Can I get you anything else with that?" Rei asked, trying to get the melancholy out of his voice.
"No thanks, love" The blonde, middle-aged woman in front of him said with a sickly smile. "I'm just fine."
"I'll bring you your coffee in a few minutes." Rei told her, scribbling down the woman's order and handing it to Bryan.
The lilac-haired man had proved to be in a foul mood after the table falling on his foot and the subsequent swearing rampage had been completely ignored so Rei had relegated him to operating the coffee machine.
Rei pulled forth a smile to greet the next customer in line. "How can I help you today?" He asked before stopping as he recognised the man in front of him as a regular. "Do you want your usual?" He asked.
Kai paused as he considered the question. "No."
Rei nodded. "Ok… what would you like?"
"What would you suggest?" Kai asked, daring to look up into Rei's eyes. He felt his breath catch in his throat and looked away quickly. The swirl of colours in the Chinese man's eyes was much more intense than any photograph could hope to capture. Kai forced himself to look back up at Rei and attempt a smile.
Rei coloured slightly at the question. "Uh…My favourite is the mocha." He admitted. "Would you like one?"
'Sounds good." Kai said, nodding, his confidence growing slightly. "Sweet tooth?" Kai asked, treasuring this new titbit of information. He had always known that Rei liked having copious amounts of sugar but had never seen him drink a mocha. Normally, Rei went for the more caffeinated beverages.
Rei flushed again. "Something like that." He said, handing Kai a number. "I'll bring it out to you when it's ready."
Kai accepted the number, his smile turning into a more confident smirk. "I'll be looking forward to it." He assured Rei, meeting the Chinese man's eyes again before turning and leaving to find a table.
Rei felt a cold bolt run through him at Kai's look and shook himself, trying to rid himself of the feeling. I hate nightmares. He though vehemently.
You wouldn't have done that before. Kai's Phantom Rei commented, sliding into the seat opposite the one Kai took.
Before I didn't have a plan. Kai thought, confident that Rei could hear him. Now I do.
To prove you love me? Phantom Rei asked, putting both his elbows on the table and leaning on them.
Kai looked over at the real Rei and nodded imperceptibly. I'll protect you.
Rei waved Bryan to the counter, ignoring the poisonous glare he received from the lavender-haired man. "I'll look after the coffee for a while. Be nice." He warned as he took in the multitude of orders he was expected to make with only one machine.
We seriously need to upgrade. He thought as he began working through the orders methodically.
He really didn't want to be the one to give coffee to the man with the red eyes. Rei had enjoyed the man's flirting but right before he had turned away to find a seat the look he had given Rei was almost predatory.
Rei shuddered as he continued to operate the machine in front of him.
-o-
"ARGH!"
Rei looked up from where he was helping Bryan and Tala to clean the last of the day's mess to see Mariah staring at the door of the café minus a Spencer. She had been talking to the blond since he had come into the café just over an hour before.
"What?" He asked, frowning.
"He's going to Russia for a month to visit his mother and asked me for my mobile number!"
"So did you give it to him?" Tala asked.
"No" She wailed. "I only got my new phone a few days ago and I haven't learned the number yet!"
Tala rolled his eyes. "Idiot" He said with feeling. "Now he thinks you were just trying to let him down nicely. Don't you have your phone on you?"
Mariah shook her head forlornly. "It's recharging at home. I didn't think I'd need it today,"
Rei walked over to the counter, reached under it and fished out a scrap of paper. "You gave me this as soon as you get the phone, remember?" He said, holding up the scrap of paper with a hastily scribbled number on it. "I assume it's your number and not a phone sex line."
Tala squinted at the number before shaking his head. "Not any phone sex service I've use- heard of."
Rei looked at Tala, alarmed, before deciding that he didn't want to know and focussing back on Mariah. "It is, isn't it?"
Mariah gazing at the paper like it was pure gold was enough of an answer. Rei held the note out to her. "Go get him."
Mariah's eyes widened. "You serious?" She asked. At Rei's nod she half squealed and swooped in to kiss the Chinese man on the cheek and grab the number. "I love you, you know that?" She asked before taking off at a run
Partially hidden across the road from the café, Kai watched from where he'd been standing all afternoon. His eyes narrowed in outrage as Mariah kissed Rei. He couldn't hear their words but it was all too clear what was happening.
Kai? Phantom Rei asked. I thought you were going to protect me?
Kai's gaze switched back to where Rei was turning bright red, his hand coming up to touch where Mariah's lips had touched him. "I promise" He murmured, hating himself and half hating the Rei that had extracted the promise from him.
He sighed and watched as Rei recovered and seemingly ordered everyone else back to work.
-o-
Rei sighed as he locked up the café for another night. Mariah hadn't returned so he could only imagine that good things had happened to her.
That combined with Tala and Bryan making eyes at each other for the last half hour before making a decidedly quick exit had left Rei feeling slightly lonely.
Rei tucked his hands into his pockets as he turned towards home.
The small sound of a footstep on the path behind him was the only warning Rei received before a hard blow to the back of his neck sent his head snapping forward and Rei into unconsciousness.
Kai caught Rei and pulled the Chinese man into his arms. He was thankful for a second that one of Enrique's longer lasting fads had been with martial arts.
Kai sighed as he held the unconscious Rei in a loose embrace, brushing a few stray locks of hair out of the Chinese man's face. "I'll protect you." He murmured. "I promise."
Please tell me what you think
I'd like to thank all the nice people at Yahoo answers for trying to educate me in the technical aspects of how to knock someone out. They're really great and amazingly helpful.