Title: Obsession

Author: PandaPjays

Chapter Title: Love Me

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: Once again, I manage to outdo myself with ridiculous update delays. I have no excuse. Life, I got bored with the characters, I stopped writing altogether, I thought I was completely over Bey.

I was wrong and I'm sorry for taking so long to remember why I love this fandom and why I love writing fanfiction so much.

Moving on from apologies (I'm not good at them), I'm an idiot.

So, last chapter I think I must have looked at the plan (everything I write is (somewhat) meticulously planned) and spat on it while I wrote, laughing manically at my confused future self. So this is only partially what I originally planned for this chapter.

That said, I like this version much, MUCH better. Despite the stress my past self caused me by deviating from the all-important plan I think it lead to a much higher quality and satisfying ending.

This was written while listening to the Phantom of Opera Soundtrack. Seriously, I've listened to the whole thing about twenty times on repeat. I know –all- the words. It's actually kind of strange and, aha, obsessive. That said, It lends nice atmosphere to the whole thing. I'd recommend listening to 'Past the Point of No Return' while you read.

Also, I've managed to hurt my arm in a bout of extreme assignmenting (I -wish- I were making that up.) so about half of this chapter was written with voice recognition software because I'm having a bit of trouble typing. It. Is. AWESOME. XD Though it seems to think Kai's obsessed with 'Rates'.

So here we are, the last actual chapter of Obsession. There'll be an epilogue (posted soon, I hope, I've already got it worked out- just need to write the damn thing) but as for actual story content, this is it.

So, without much further ado, I hope you enjoy it ^^

Brooklyn held on to the photo frame in a death grip as he walked, trying to remember Lee's directions. It wasn't that the other man had been unclear, exactly, more that fear had seeped into every word. Fear can be quite a distracting thing, especially when combined with something as mundane as directions.

The redhead didn't really understand the fear. Lee had said that Rei was his best friend. Yet, he didn't know about Kai so perhaps he didn't know Rei as well as he thought? Not that uncommon. Neither was a person simply not showing up to work without explanation. Maybe a little unusual, sure, but definitely not cause to be pushing all the panic buttons.

But Lee's fear had been genuine. And so here Brooklyn was, walking.

He felt the presence of the Gatling before he saw it. Mostly through the exploding pain of his shin as it came into contact with one of the chairs set up outside the café.

Brooklyn yelped and let out a few choice curses, before gingerly putting his weight back on to his leg and limping into the café. He spotted a pink-haired girl behind the counter and headed towards her. "I think your furniture wants to kill me," he deadpanned.

Mariah looked up, shocked. She had been spacing out, going over the everything that had happened the day before and trying to remember anything that would give them a clue as to Kai's whereabouts. She hadn't gotten anywhere but had almost perfected her middle-distance staring. "I- what?" she asked. "I'm sorry, I was a million miles away," she recovered, giving Brooklyn the best most non-psychopathic smile she could come up with. "Can I help you with anything?"

Brooklyn blinked when faced with Mariah's not-so-slightly scary smile. "Uh... yeah. I called a little while ago and spoke to Lee? I was looking for a workmate of mine and I think he might know Rei. Anyway, Lee told me to come down here."

"You mean someone else is missing? Not Just Rei?" Mariah asked, all pretence of customer service gone and an intense look of concentration in her eyes. "Do you know something?"

Brooklyn took a step back, "I- uh."

Mariah walked over to the kitchen door and poked her head in, "He's here."

A few milliseconds later, three people practically leapt out of the kitchen.

"Brooklyn?" Lee demanded.

Looking like a deer caught in the headlights, Brooklyn nodded slowly. "Um... you told me to come down here?" He tried.

"You said you knew something about Rei?" Lee asked, making an effort to look a little less intimidating. "Sorry if we're scaring you but it's really important."

Brooklyn held out the picture he'd been carrying. "He's the boyfriend of one of my co-workers," he paused before correcting himself, "-well, ex-co-worker, really. I called because Kai left a few things at the office and I thought Rei might be able to get in contact with him.

"I told you, Rei doesn't have a boyfriend." Lee muttered more to himself than to Brooklyn, reaching and taking the picture. He looked down at the photo and froze.

"What is it?" Tala looked over Lee's shoulder and frowned. "Hey, isn't that the outfit Rei was wearing that night we went out? I thought it was just you and Rei there."

"It was." Lee said, a sick feeling in his stomach. He'd known something was wrong as soon as Rei hadn't shown up that morning but he had thought it was something along the lines of a car accident. Something serious but not anything that required the slow fizz of panic that was beginning in his body.

Brooklyn frowned, tilting his head to the side. "What's wrong?"

"Do you have a photo of this Kai?" Lee asked, handing the picture of Rei back to Brooklyn.

Brooklyn bit his lip in thought. "Kai's not exactly a... photo person." A look of inspiration crossed his face. "Wait— I might have something"

He pulled his wallet from his pocket and started rummaging through it. "I'm pretty sure that Enri took a photo one day and he gave it to me. Or... at least I think he did." He let out a little 'aha', as his fingers found what he was looking for: a bent and crumpled photo shoved into a corner of his wallet.

"Here it is." He handed Lee the photo with an apologetic smile at the condition of the photograph.

Lee snatched the photo from his fingers. He scanned the faces of the people in the photo. There was Brooklyn, looking a little nervously up at the lens, and a blonde boy who looked far too happy to be in an office setting. The blonde boy dragged a green-haired man into the frame. Behind that—

Lee's eyes narrowed as she saw the familiar red eyes of the man glowering behind the trio. That was—!

"Tala..." he said, handing the photo to the redhead.

"Mister Bitter-Pants!" Tala said as he saw the familiar crimson gaze. He looked up at Brooklyn, "He's a regular here. He comes here every day for lunch. But he doesn't know Rei."

Brooklyn frowned. "I know he's a regular. He comes here every day because he it means he can see his boyfriend, Rei."

"And the excellent food, of course," Lee interjected, unable to stop himself.

Tala shook his head. "He's only ever spoken to Rei maybe ten times. If that." He tapped Kai's unsmiling image, considering it. "If there was any more to it, I would know about it."

"How can you be sure about that?" Brooklyn asked. "He's your boss. Not your best friend."

Tala smirked, exchanging knowing looks with the rest of the staff. "With Rei it's the same thing."

"Besides," Lee said, handing the photograph back to Brooklyn, "seeing Kai's face, I now know for sure that Kai was not there that day. I have never spoken to him. "

Lee paused, a thoughtful look coming over his eyes, chasing away the fear with something that looked suspiciously like a plan. "However... I think that now might be the time we start talking."

Brooklyn frowned, confused, "I don't understand what's going on. How could Kai not be there? How did he get that photo then?"

Lee turned and walked the few short steps he needed to get to the kitchen door. He opened it and reached inside to grab his coat. "Two excellent questions. Two excellent questions I intend to ask him directly. I assume that you know his address?"

Brooklyn looked uncomfortable. He hadn't expected this. He had expected to come to the Gatling and find that Rei's co-workers didn't know him as well as they thought. He hadn't expected to come and find that perhaps he didn't know Kai as well as he thought he had. And he had never pretended to himself that he knew Kai... "I-"

"You what?" Bryan asked, speaking for the first time. "You knew his number. That's why you know he's not picking up his phone. You knew enough about him to call us about Rei- despite the fact that we know nothing about him. This means that you know his address. It's your company records. You will take Lee to this address and you will find out where Rei is."

Brooklyn started, staring up at the sudden mass of menace that was Bryan. "I-", he swallowed his throat suddenly dropped. "I don't know his address off the top my head."

"But-?" Bryan asked as he folded his arms in front of him, fixing Brooklyn with narrow glare.

"But I can find out, "Brooklyn said meekly.

"That might be a good idea." Bryan ignored the looks from Tala that told him he was going to get a lot of kinky sex that night in reward for his heroics.

Lee nodded. He turned to look at the staff. "Tala, you're head chef for the moment. Make sure that lunch is ready and everything is running as normal," He ordered, somewhat surprised when the redhead acquiesced without a fight. "Bryan and Mariah, hold down the fort. Remember, no one, especially not our paying customers, needs to know that there is something wrong in our world. Can you imagine what Rei will say if we scare all the customers just because we're having a bad day?" He turned to look Brooklyn. "I'm coming with you. I suggest that you find Kai's address now."

Brooklyn nodded and turned to leave the café. He did not understand what was going on. He didn't like what was going on. But that undercurrent of fear that he had heard in Lee's voice over the phone had started to take its toll. He felt the thrumming of fear and an uneasiness settle in his stomach as he tried to figure out why Kai would have a photo of a man he had barely talked to on his desk. And why that man would have disappeared on the same day Kai dropped off the face of the Earth.

Most importantly, however, he thought as the pieces began to drop into place, he tried to understand why something like this was happening in his life. People lied about having close relationships with each other all the time. It was how they got by. But no one ever acted on their lies.

Did they?

-o-

"I'm hungry."

Kai paused in his brushing of Rei's hair. He quickly did a mental inventory of his pantry. It didn't take long. "I might be able to get you a sandwich... or another cup of coffee?"

"Not more coffee," he said quickly. "Seriously, you need to throw that shit away". He softened his criticism with a smile. "A sandwich sounds fine. Do you have jam? Or something sweet?"

Kai gave a small smile. "I'll see what I can find.", he passed the hairbrush to Rei and stood slowly. He walked quickly to the kitchen, once again going through his mental pantry.

He could still smell the fruity scent of Rei's hair. But it wasn't Rei. Even if this Fake Rei acted like Rei It wasn't him. The colour in the life in his eyes wasn't there. This wasn't Rei. He had to remember.

Kai went through the motions of making a sandwich, finding strawberry jam in his fridge. He made a mental note to go shopping; they needed supplies before they escaped.

He walked back into their living room, pausing as he was treated with a vision of beauty lying on his couch. Rei had given up trying to brush his mane into submission. Instead, he had let it hang loose around him, framing his body.

Despite knowing that this wasn't Rei, Kai felt a small thrill run through him. He knew that this Fake Rei could only be a cheap imitation of the real thing. But even in his imitation of perfection, he still had elements of what made the original so fascinating and enchanting.

Rei accepted the sandwich with a, "Thank you", unsure about where to go now. He hadn't thought this plan through. Granted, it was fairly hard to think something like this through while one was trapped in the bathroom. But when he had come up with this idea it had seemed so good and so logical. It was only when he reached the crux of the plan he began to have misgivings.

"Kai...?" Rei asked tentatively.

"Hm?" Kai broke out of his reverie. Even in imitation Rei could make eating a sandwich look mesmerising. If it wasn't for those dead, flat eyes Kai could almost believe it was his Rei. But he knew better.

"You trust me, don't you?" Rei asked meeting Kai's crimson eyes with his own golden ones.

"..." Kai's full lips pursed in thought, considering how to answer that. "I-I can't." When all else fails, try honesty. He reached forward to run the back of his fingers down Rei's smooth cheek.

No, not Rei. Something else.

"I had to bring you here because I can't trust you to always make the right decisions to protect yourself." He tried to explain, stumbling over his own words. "It's dangerous out there."

Rei stood, ignoring the bolts of pain his legs sent him, reminding him that, yes, they were still there and, yes, they did resent him keeping them in one place for so long.

"And you can't trust me not to understand that?" Rei asked. "I told you before, I understand that you've only got my best interests at heart. But... isn't it all meaningless if you can't trust me to make my own decisions sometimes?"

Rei held out his hand to Kai. Originally, he had hoped to simply ask Kai for the keys to the apartment as a show of trust. He had thought Kai was too far gone to recognise what he was really asking.

He had been wrong. Even crazy people could be particularly astute when they wanted to be.

Kai took Rei's hand and stood, releasing it when he had gained his balance.

Rei felt a horrible sinking feeling of knowledge as his mind provided him with a new plan to get the key. If he couldn't convince Kai with words...

Rei closed his eyes for a long second before opening them again to regard Kai.

"What do you want?" Kai asked, staring at the flat, emotionless depths of Rei's eyes. I know you're not him. I know you're not Rei.

Rei backed up until he felt the solidity of the wall behind him, steeling himself. If he wanted freedom this was the only way. He needed that key. If he turned his head he could see the wall of covered in pictures of himself above Kai's table.

He chose not to turn his head.

He flicked his gaze up to Kai, a small smile on his lips. "Come here and I'll show you."

Despite his misgivings, Kai was powerless. Even if this wasn't his Rei, almost every detail was perfect. Every detail except the eyes. Kai took a few hesitant steps toward this not-Rei.

Rei smiled at Kai's hesitation and reached forward to grab the front of Kai's shirt. The smile turned into a naughty smirk as he pulled an unresisting Kai forward. "I want you to trust me," he said in a voice only meant for Kai's ears.

Rei's hands left Kai's shirt and travelled, palms open, up the other's chest and over his shoulders. Rei's hands tensed a moment before the travelled up to caress Kai's neck and pull the bluenette's head down the fraction it needed for their lips to brush.

Kai's eyes fluttered shut. Despite what he knew, despite everything, he was engulfed in the heady rush of joy and calm and pure need that Rei's presence caused. And that brief touch of lips wasn't enough.

Kai claimed Rei's lips with his own, pushing Rei firmly against the wall and moulding his body to the Chinese man's. Despite this, his lips were gentle, speaking of long-held obsession.

Rei's eyes slid shut as he responded, it was impossible not to. His left hand moved to entangle itself in Kai's hair, running the soft locks through his fingers and massaging gently.

Kai made a small sound in the back of his throat at Rei's movements. Despite everything this was as close to a perfect moment as he had ever had. This moment was the reason he had existed for all of these years. This was more than he had ever hoped for in his life. He ran his tongue over Rei's soft, inviting lips, requesting entrance.

The Chinese man complied hesitantly, his hand tightening in Kai's hair as the other's tongue entered shyly to brush his own. His other hand began to travel downwards, tracing patterns on Kai's back as it travelled further, intent on feeling every inch of the other's form.

Kai was almost lost. If before had been a the most perfect moment in his life, now was the moment most lived and died without ever having experienced. It was beyond perfect. Rei tasted of sunshine and the first warm breeze of spring. His senses sung as he felt Rei's tongue move against his softly, inviting and accepting Kai despite everything.

Rei's hands abandoned Kai's back to skirt and play with the waistband of his pants, hands still travelling lower, searching.

Kai's hands moved like lightning, snatching both of Rei's hands away and pinning them to the wall. He pulled away from the perfect moment and back into hurtful reality. The reality where an imposter pretended to be his Rei.

"You won't find the keys there," he said in as steady a voice as he could manage.

Rei's golden eyes snapped up to meet his, the colour swirling with passion and shock.

Kai stared into those eyes, so full of life and indomitable passion. No camera could catch the emotions that flowed through those eyes constantly. Rei's eyes were a thing of beauty, reflecting the perfect being hiding behind them.

His Rei was here, regarding him with those eyes no camera could ever capture.

Kais grip loosened as he took in that realisation. "...Rei?"

"Let. Me. Go." Rei's knee snapped up, hitting Kai in the crotch.

Kai's vision turned white as he fell, his mouth open in a silent scream of pain.

Rei, pressing his advantage, withdrew the scissors he had stolen from Kai's bathroom. "Where are the keys, Kai?" He asked, keeping his voice as steady as he could. He hadn't wanted to resort to this. If Kai had gone along with his seduction plan this wouldn't have been necessary.

Kai's mouth moved a few times, trying to find his voice as the pain began to ebb away. "R-Re-" He tried, struggling to get his feet underneath him.

"The keys, Kai." Rei ordered, sidling along the wall to get further away from the bluenette keeping the scissors between himself and the other.

Kai stood slowly and painfully, looking at Rei in disbelief. "I'm – I'm only trying to protect you. Why can't you see that?" He pleaded, taking a shaky step toward Rei.

Rei's hands were shaking uncontrollably. "Stop where you are, Kai. Just tell me where the keys are and I'll let myself out. No one needs to get hurt."

"I can't." Kai stepped forward smoothly and gripped Rei's wrist, forcing it out and away from them, rendering the weapon useless.

Rei physically felt the fight leave him in that movement, his muscles going limp in Kai's grip. Even when he had a weapon he couldn't put it to use. Even now, he couldn't use a weapon against his captor.

The scissors fell to the floor with a clang that made Rei flinch.

Paying no heed to the weapon, Kai used his unoccupied hand to gently caress Rei's smooth cheek.

"Don't you see this is how it's meant to be?" He asked, his voice the fervent whisper of a man who has fallen so far they can no longer hear themselves. "Didn't you feel it when we kissed?"

Rei shuddered, turning his face away from Kai's hand. "Please-"

"Rei, I-", Kai moved so his crimson eyes met Rei's golden ones, still full of life and passion. "I love you."

At those words, Rei felt his strength return in a surge of anger. He didn't deserve this. He hadn't invited this upon himself. He hadn't done this. He didn't deserve this.

This wasn't love. Love was something that was supposed to bring great joy and great pain. Love was supposed to be shared and treasured. Love wasn't supposed to be about fear, or strength, or control. You didn't need to force your protection on the ones you love. You simply protected them and, when that failed, you stayed behind to pick up the pieces. Love was about trust. There was no trust here, only fear and hatred. This wasn't love.

This was obsession.

"Don't say that!" Rei threw the last of his strength in an effort to push Kai away from him.

Unprepared, Kai stumbled backwards, one of his feet landing on the scissors Rei had dropped.

Rei would remember the next few seconds for the rest of his life.

Kai lost his footing, falling with a sound of surprise. His head came squarely in contact with the corner of the table as he fell.

Kai's body hit the ground and stayed there, a rapidly expanding pool of blood forming a red halo around his head and staining the lighter hair at the front of his head.

Is he...?

Rei's legs gave out, no longer able to support him. Too much had happened. Too much for one person. Too much for one day. Too much for one lifetime.

Rei felt the burning sensation of bile begin to rise in his throat. Instead of fighting it he turned aside and emptied his stomach, trying to purge everything from him. He didn't want any part of this experience remaining with him.

He continued to dry retch as his stomach reminded him he'd only eaten a sandwich since lunchtime the day before.

He dared to look over his shoulder at Kai's still form, a wave of cold washing over him and making him shiver uncontrollably. He felt his stomach clench with the urge to throw up again but there was nothing left and he didn't have the energy any more.

Instead, his curled in on himself, his breathing unsteady. As an afterthought, he felt cold tracks down his face. He couldn't remember crying. He didn't know when he had started, He hadn't been aware of it. Rei buried his head in his arms as great, racking sobs tore through his body. This wasn't how it was meant to be. This wasn't how things were supposed to end.

He could feel his heart beating too fast. His world narrowed to the feeling of his heart, beating so fast and loud he could almost feel his entire body vibrating with each rhythmic thump. His world became only the sound of his heart and that terrible feeling of cold, like his body was trying to freeze itself from the inside out.

Thump

He didn't want to die like this, trapped in a house with his captor.

Thump

He wanted to risk another look at Kai to confirm that the bluenette wasn't going to hurt him.

Thump

He couldn't. The image of Kai's still form had already burned itself into his memory forever. Reinforcing it would only lead to insanity.

Thump

He could still feel Kai's lips on his. He could still taste him, a cold, biting flavour Rei associated with frost and desperation.

Thump

He could still feel the way Kai had held him, not as someone who loves another but as someone who could not exist without a possession.

Thump

Rei shivered, clutching the shirt Kai had lent him around his slim frame. It wasn't nearly adequate.

Thump

And now Kai was dead. Rei had killed him.

Thump

Murderer

Thump

"Rei! Rei are you there?"

Rei's heart subsided as its thumping gave way to a frantic beating on the door and Lee's voice filtering through.

"Lee?" He whispered, his voice a hoarse croak. Realising his friend would have no chance of hearing that he tried again, "LEE!"

The pounding paused for a second. Rei heard a muffled "Did you hear that?"

"LEE!" He tried again before breaking into a coughing fit. "Help!" He choked out. "Help me!"

"He's there! He's-"

Rei wincing as a deafening thud echoed through the apartment. And another. And-

CRASH

"Rei!"

He heard Lee's sharp intake of breath as Lee took in his surroundings. "What the fuck is this?" He asked the room at large, seeing the wall of Rei, Kai's still body and Rei's huddled form.

Rei felt the warm arms of his best friend encircle him, driving off the demons and opening his world to something more than his heart and the cold. He buried his face in the other's thick main of hair, starting to shake again.

"What happened, Rei?"

Rei shook his head, unable to put into words anything that would even begin to answer Lee's question.

"What did you do to Kai?" Brooklyn asked, rushing in behind Lee and running to the bluenette's side. "There's so much blood! What did you do?"

"Rei didn't do anything." Lee all but growled, automatically going to Rei's defence. He still didn't understand what was going on but the apartment they were in didn't paint a very positive picture. "Whatever that freak got he deserved."

"Is-Is he dead?" Rei managed.

Brooklyn put two fingers to Kai's neck, searching for a pulse. "No." He said after a few seconds before tearing a strip of cloth from his sleeve and trying to staunch the flow of blood from the bluenette's temple. "What happened?"

Rei sagged against Lee upon hearing that he wasn't a murderer. He felt Lee's arms tighten around him, supporting him.

"Take me home, Lee," he pled. "I can't be here anymore."

Lee's heart broke a little bit. He still didn't know what had happened but anything that could take Rei from the bright, energetic, constantly optimistic man he knew to the broken and huddled man he held in his arms couldn't be anything other than the things nightmares were made of.

"Soon, Rei. Soon." He comforted as his eyes darted around the room. "Brooklyn." He said levelly so as not to startle Rei. "Telephone. Call an ambulance." He paused, thinking, "call two."

Brooklyn turned to argue but, upon seeing the wild look in Lee's eyes, decided against it. He stood after fashioning a bandage around Kai's head. Spotting the phone, he walked over to it and began dialling.

Lee adjusted his grip around Rei. "I'm going to get you out to the hallway." He said quietly. "You shouldn't be here anymore."

"Please" Rei asked, a fresh round of tears falling to be absorbed by Lee's hair.

Lee bit his lip, controlling the urge to walk over to Kai and finish the job Rei had started. Whatever he had done, he had left Rei in a state it would take him a long time to recover from.

If he ever recovered a traitorous part of his mind added.

"You're going to have to help me with this," Lee said, slinging one of Rei's arms over his shoulder. They stood slowly, Rei holding barely any of his own weight. "It's going to be alright." Lee assured Rei as they staggered together towards the door, unable to find a rhythm that would allow them both to walk less awkwardly. "I promise. He can't hurt you anymore."

They stepped over the ruins of Kai's door and into the relative brightness of the hallway outside.

Rei blinked at the change of light. He hadn't noticed how gloomy Kai's apartment was. He hadn't noticed the oppressive atmosphere.

He hadn't noticed until he was hit by the harsh, artificial light of the hallway. The light that burned him and set a clear boundary between here and there. The light that told him clearly and without question

You are free.

"It's over." Rei breathed, sagging further into the solid, supporting form of his friend. "It's really over."

Amen, ReiRei, Amen.

Please tell me what you think