Rei sighed, rolling his eyes as a loud clatter of pots and pans came from the kitchen, accompanied by yells of "Ouch!", "Son of a...", and "Ow!" He padded his way down the hall, feet making little noise on the wooden floors of the dojo. He stuck his head into the kitchen to see Takao, Max, and Kyoujou all in a rather uncomfortable-looking heap on the floor, surrounded by pots, pans, dishes, plates, and utensils of all kinds. Takao attempted to spring to his feet, only to bang his head rather painfully on the counter. He groaned. "Aw, man!" he groused, getting up more carefully the second time around. "The sourpuss is gonna kill us for this mess!"
"Takao..."
"Oh, hi Rei."
"What happened?"
"Well," Max began, getting up as well, turning to help Kyoujou, "Takao and me..."
"'Takao and I'," Rei corrected automatically, moving to check over all three younger boys to make sure there were no injuries besides a few bruises.
"Takao and I were...um...well, we weren't doing anything wrong..."
Rei sighed, feeling a headache already. "You were sock-sliding, weren't you?"
"Yeah," Max confessed, heaving a sigh. "Anyway, Takao was winning, and then suddenly Kyoujou opened...the bathroom door, I think...and we hurtled into him and bowled ourselves into the kitchen."
"It was our impact into the cabinets that probably forced the pots and pans and such out," Kyoujou offered, straightening his glasses.
"You know Kai is going to be upset, right? He told you no more sock-sliding after Max nearly got a concussion that last time."
"But...Hiroshi just cleaned the floors...they were so smooth," Takao whined. Rei sighed again, hardly believing what he himself was about to do.
"Look...I'm cleaning today anyway, so you guys go to a movie and out to lunch or something, alright? Just stay clear of the dojo for a few hours while I clean, and I'll cover for you guys somehow."
He was showered with hugs, Max glomping him and tackling him to the floor, giggling. "Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
"Yeah, yeah," he said, smiling. "Just go, already."
Laughing and calling back how much they owed him, they ran in a mishmashed jumble of bodies and voices towards the door, where there was a brief holdup as they struggled to get out. They eventually triumphed, however, and soon their voices faded into nothing. The front door slammed and Rei sighed as he allowed the blissful quiet to sink in.
He scooped the pots up into his arms laying them out onto the table. He swept out the broken shards from the whole pots and pans and such, dumping them unceremoniously into the trash. He stacked them quickly, shoving them back where they belonged in the cabinets, making one last sweep before he turned his back on the kitchen until lunch – which, hopefully, he would be spending in quiet solitude...or better yet, with Kai.
Shaking those thoughts from his head before they could progress into what would likely be an overly exaggerated daydream, he focused his full attention on the task of cleaning – and Buddha only knew it needed his full attention. He had gotten back from his brief three-day vacation with the White Tigers only yesterday and had come back to the dojo to find it in shambles. Apparently, Kai had left the teens with Grandpa in charge as he went back to Russia for three days to visit his old team as well.
Grandpa wasn't nearly as good as keeping the trio in line as either Rei or Kai, no matter how well he might coach or how serious he seemed.
The house was in utter disrepair. Dishes, filthy and greasy, were piled high in the sink. Several black skid marks that looked suspiciously like the tire tracks from Takao's bike lined the hallways. A few of the carved railings had been covered with what looked like tape. A few of the windows had been sloppily nailed shut. Several trails of confetti lined the hallways, and a smell that smelled vaguely like rotting fish floated through the air near the training hall.
He vowed never, ever, ever to leave Grandpa in charge again. Never.
After spending two and a half hours on his hands and knees scrubbing tire marks, taking out nails from windowsills, depriving the banister of its tape cover, washing several stacks of absolutely atrocious dishes, sweeping up confetti, and cleaning out several pounds of dead, wet fish from the closet in the training room, (and doing the laundry as a side), Rei decided it was time to move on to the bedrooms while he still had time.
He climbed up the stairs, already exhausted, noting with a groan that it wasn't even past noon yet. His feet dragged as he made his way down the hallway, entering Takao's room. He sighed. Food wrappers everywhere, bed unmade, soda cans littering the floor, half-empty bowls of ramen, and some instant mac that was starting to grow blue fuzz. He wrinkled his nose. This wasn't nearly as bad as it was after a holiday.
Max's room was next on his list after her finished making Takao's bed after cleaning and leaving freshly folded and laundered clothes on his bed to be put away. The turtle's room was neater than the dragon's, but not by that much. Bed still unmade, clothes – all bright and perky, Rei noticed, rolling his eyes – scattered haphazardly around the room, empty candy wrappers everywhere he looked, gum stuck to the wall...damn, Takao was rubbing off on Max too much.
After Max's door was Kyoujou's room. Rei stuck his head inside, sure that there would be no mess, and he was not disappointed. The kid barely ever slept here, but when he did he was neat, at least. Thank Buddha for that.
And last but not least...the room he had been hoping he wouldn't have to do. Kai's room. He barely ever ventured inside there, but he had Kai's clothes, and he considered it bad manners to leave someone's person possessions – or their clothes, if they didn't count as "personal" - on the ground. Thus, he would have to sneak into unexplored territory.
A small voice at the back of his mind insisted he was looking for the littlest excuse to go into his crush/idol's room.
He told the small voice to go and sit in a corner or something, and that he had better things to do than listen to it.
He knocked on the door, waiting for a few moments. When he received no answer, he slid the door open gently and stuck his head inside the dim room. "Kai?"
No answer. He knew that the Russian enigma was back from his icy homeland, but just where he was at the moment Rei had no idea. Ignoring that oh-so-persistent, annoying little voice in the back of his head that told him it was a bad idea, he stepped gingerly into Kai's room, leaving the door wide open.
It wasn't nearly as messy as Takao or Max's, but still not mechanically neat as Rei had expected. The bed was made, yes, but not in a perfect way. Books were stacked in a decidedly unorganized fashion on the bookshelves. A few lay open on the nightstand, two or three on the floor. The door to the bathroom was open, and the small room was neat.
He laid Kai's folded, clean clothes on his bed, picking up the books on the floor and placing them carefully back on the shelves. He glanced down at one of them. He supposed the language was Russian, as it certainly looked foreign enough. He flipped in open with no real interest and felt his jaw dropped.
He couldn't tear his eyes away from the book. On the first crisp white page there was a beautiful sketch of Dranzer in her battle form, flaming and apparently ready to release a battle cry of some sort. It was accurate and clear, sharp and focused. He flipped the page and blinked, not quite believing what he was seeing. It was a sketch of one of the first times they had shared a house – he had been cooking, Takao trying to snatch a bit of the meal, Max trying to get sugar high, Kyoujou shy and quiet, and Kai withdrawn and even more antisocial.
In the sketch, he was batting Takao's hand away with a spoon as Max stretched for a cookie jar Rei remembered placing on top of the fridge. Kyoujou was typing away at his laptop, and Kai was leaning silently against the wall.
He turned another page, wave after wave of astonishment hitting him. It was the Blitzkreig team's images that greeted him on the next page, the sketch portraying emotions that he believed he would never see in the stoic team. Yuriy appeared to be teasing Boris about something, Spencer sniggering in the background as he relaxed in an armchair beside the couch where both Yuriy and Boris sat. Kai, smirking, was relaxing on a barstool at the small island behind the couch.
The next page was a simple sketch of Yuriy and Wolborg, locked in some battle or another. The next was of Takao and Max squabbling over the last piece of Rei's sushi. The next picture was of Rei leaning over a stove, stirring something in a large metal pot.
After a few more pages, he ran into a page full of the strange letters – Russian. The handwriting was neat and precise – Kai's certainly. He turned the page over and blinked. Beneath a few letters was a picture of him laughing beneath a tree – a tree that was in the back of the dojo, he saw. It was a wonderful likeness – the others had been rough, but excellent...yet this was refined to the point of professional sketching, etched gently into the paper, so real he felt it would spring to life at any moment.
A loud noise downstairs, that of a door slamming, jerked him out of his reverie. He slipped the book hurriedly onto the shelf and rushed downstairs to greet Takao, attempting to bury the sketchbook in his memories.
It didn't work. That evening, the images were still fresh and vivid in his mind, nearly as real as they had been in the sketchbook. He longed to see the artwork again – it was beautiful, really. It couldn't be cooped up like that with no one looking at it – at least, that was how he reasoned with himself as he stole softly down the hallway at six o'clock that evening. No one had seen Kai all day, so surely he wasn't in the dojo right now...
He slipped into the room, closing the door gently behind him this time, hoping that the noise of the knob being turned would give him enough time to put the book on the shelf and act like he was straightening up.
The bedside lamp was on, casting a warm circle of golden light into the room. He quickly found the book where he had placed it hurriedly on the shelf when Takao and the others had come back to the dojo. He flipped through them again, even slower this time, taking the moment to carefully absorb all the details that he could – and there were so many. The creases in the clothing, the slight differences in facial expression, the lone stray hair, the leaves on trees or bushes...
He let himself sink into the sketchbook, snapping out of his reverie once more only by the sound of a door opening behind him.
He spun around, the sketchbook falling to the carpeted floor, eyes wide in shock of being caught – how was he to know that someone was in Kai's bathroom?
...Someone...
In Kai's bathroom?
Oh shit.
"Kon..."
"I...oh...um...Kai, I didn't...!" He slowed to a halt as he finally took in the sight in front of him. Hot steam billowed lazily out of the bathroom, wrapping itself around Kai's semi-naked form, shielded only by a towel around his waist. Water made his two-toned hair fall gently into his crimson eyes, droplets shining in the golden light from the lamp.
Rei would've been in wet-dream paradise if the reality of the situation hadn't chosen that second to make itself known.
He and Kai were alone in Kai's room. Kai was wearing only a towel, and Rei was sifting through Kai's personal belongings.
He was as good as dead.
"What are you doing in here?"
"I, uh, well, I was, uh..."
"Are you actually going to speak intelligent language instead of this mindless blabbering?"
"Um..." He rose to his feet, noting suddenly that Kai was taller than him...and far stronger and faster, despite the fact that he had several years of martial arts training.
Kai took a step closer, crimson eyes flashing, fixed directly on Rei's amber orbs. He now believed he knew what a "deer in the headlights" expression truly meant, He was paralyzed, unable to move in the face of that flashing crimson. Now Kai was almost directly before him, his scent washing over the neko-jin in waves. It was fresh and crisp, mint-like and cool. He tore his eyes away from his captain's and looked at the floor.
"Um, Kai, I didn't know that you were here."
"I'd gathered."
He was directly in front of him now, their bodies less than two inches apart from each other. The tiger could feel the heat radiating off of the other boy in waves. He closed his eyes and was about to speak again when a cool, slender finger slid under his chin, forcing his head harshly up.
"I believe," the phoenix said coolly, staring directly into Rei's eyes, "that I asked you what you were doing in here. I would like an answer, Kon."
"I...well, um..."
"Now, Kon. I'm not known for my patience."
"You sketches," he blurted, feeling himself flush bright red. "I-I was cleaning today, because Max and Takao aren't exactly capable of keeping a clean house, and so I was doing what I usually do, and you had some clothes from the wash, and I didn't want to just leave them on the floor, so I brought them in and put them on your bed, and I saw some books on the floor so I put them on the shelf and I saw the sketchbook and..."
He would have gone on and on for as long as his breath would last, but another cool finger pressed itself against his mouth, effectively silencing him. Then hand dropped, and suddenly he was pulled up against a cool bare chest. He felt his warm, blushing cheek collide gently with skin and felt his cheeks light up as if on fire. An arm circled around his waist, and the other tilted his head up yet again.
"Didn't anyone ever tell you about personal space?" he asked softly, crimson eyes like fire. Rei felt his heart speed up, his breathing becoming erratic.
"Y-yes," he breathed lightly. He could feel Kai's breath on his skin, soft and gentle. How did he get into these situations?
"Seems like you have the same disrespect for it as myself," he said before he closed the distance between their mouths with a suddenness that shocked Rei into submission.
Heated lips pressed hard against his own, giving new meaning to "bruised lips". He gasped softly as Kai's arm tightened even more on his waist, grinding them together. A hot tongue slipped between slightly parted lips, gently probing. Cinnamon and coffee, flavor and pleasure, whirled around in his mouth. His brain had gone on a temporary hiatus, his systems going into meltdown. He clutched at Kai, hands becoming twined in cold wet hair, pulling them even closer...
They broke for air a few moments, or perhaps a few years, later, both panting lightly, eyes locked on each other.
"Damn," Rei breathed after a few moments. "That was...something along the 'dream come true' line."
"You have no idea," Kai agreed. He tossed Rei onto the bed. "I have many more dreams, Rei. Care to help me make them reality?"
Rei could only smile,
Rei opened his eyes, shielding them against the sun shining in through the east-facing window. Wait...east? His window was on the west side of the dojo, he was sure. Then where...?
Last night came flooding back to him in a rush – sketchbook, door, bathroom, steam, Kai, towel (Towel!), personal space, kiss (Oh Buddha, kiss!), bed, arms, legs...more kisses (Kisses!)...nothing more, though. Not yet.
He turned over, blinking sleep away, to see Kai wide awake, clear, gorgeous crimson eyes staring right back at him. "Morning."
"'Morning," Rei yawned back, arching his back. He felt cool, gentle arms loop around him and pull him close to a nicely sculpted, toned body.
"Don't do that."
"Stretch?"
"Yes."
"Why?"
"Too tempting."
"...Ah." Rei smirked, even though he knew that the phoenix couldn't see him. The smirk then gave way to a smile of happiness as light butterfly kisses trailed down his neck.
"I don't think I mind being woken like this," he murmured, snuggling up close to Kai. "Oh, hey, I'm a bit curious about a couple of things..."
"Hn."
"In the sketchbook...there were a few sketches of the Blitzkreig Boys...but they looked different then in the tournaments. Is that how they usually are? Relaxed, I mean."
"Usually."
"...And...then...there was a page with writing on it...and then a page with me. What did the writing say?"
"Ah." Kai gave him a Kai-smile: one of those things that was somehow a smile and not a smile at the same time, a small upturning of a corner of that frustratingly kissable mouth that he had. "That."
"Yes," Rei agreed. "That."
"The writing on the first page isn't important," Kai insisted. Rei shot him a skeptical look and he smirked. "Really. And on the second page..."
He leaned in close to Rei, hot mouth brushing against a sensitive ear. "My one wish."
A/N Believe it or not, this began from a wish to write a dark, depressing, angsty fic. I ended up writing semi-fluffy KaiRei slashy goodness instead.
Needless to say, I think I failed in the "Depressing" department.
R&R
PS: thnku4thevenom says "Hi".