This was just typical, thought Rei. How had he ended up in A&E again so soon after his last trip, after the battle with Bryan? It's sod's law - as soon as you get ready to leave somewhere, something happens to elongate your trip, or, worse yet, you think you have finally got free, taste maybe a week or so of liberty, and then you're forced back, knowing what you're missing.

He glanced around in boredom. As far as he could work out, everything was pretty much the same as in the one in Moscow. Although he had only just been conscious on his arrival at the last hospital, he had nevertheless spent a fair amount of time in the waiting room, and remembered the hard, orange plastic chairs, the wilting pot plants and the obnoxious secretary filing her nails at the desk that had all reappeared here. At least here someone had attempted to cheer up the place somewhat by tacking posters of various cities on the walls. Rei himself was currently sitting under Buenos Aires, directly across from Paris.

Rei sighed, wondering what his team mates were doing now. Only Kai had come with him to the hospital, and he had wandered off about a quarter of an hour ago to find a cup of coffee. He was taking a very long time, come to think of it. Rei couldn't blame him, really; he could think of better ways to spend a Friday afternoon. Still, he hadn't allowed the others to come and keep him company because they 'needed to train', so it was a bit unfair of him to abandon his team mate at the first opportunity.

As he was thinking this, a voice next to him jolted him out of his reverie: "How's the arm, Rei?"

Speak of the devil - Kai had appeared with two polystyrene cups of steaming coffee. He handed one to Rei, who nodded his thanks in a slightly surprised manner – this spontaneous small act of kindness was unlike Kai - and then sat down and waited for him to answer his question.

"I don't think it'll have to be amputated," Rei joked. Seeing Kai's raised eyebrow, he added, "Honestly, it's not too bad. Mariah doesn't have enough power in her launch to do too much damage, even by accident. It's probably a sprain, at worst."

"Let's hope so."

A companionable silence drifted over them while they sipped their coffee, and Rei fell back into his musings. This had all started when the Bladebreakers and the White Tigers had decided to launch a joint training programme in order to share expertise and forge closer links between the two teams. It had gone well for the first week or so, with quite a lot of improvement on all sides. In fact, it wasn't until today, when Rei had tried to show Mariah a new launching technique, that anything had gone wrong at all. It wasn't that she was bad at it, he reflected, just a little too… enthusiastic.

He shifted his arm slightly, and winced. It was starting to hurt now. He suddenly noticed that Kai was watching him, and his expression was one that didn't often appear on his face. Rei didn't recognise it. Sympathy? Affection?

"Not too bad, huh?"

Rei looked sheepish. "It hurts now," he admitted.

"It probably needs a bit of support," said Kai, unwinding his scarf from around his neck.

"Uh, what are you doing?" Rei asked, confused.

"Making a sling. What does it look like?" Kai twisted in his seat to face Rei, and then carefully slipped the material round Rei's injured arm, tying it behind his neck. Rei shivered as gentle, but cold, fingers lightly brushed the back of his neck. It felt strangely intimate, and he suddenly became very aware of how close Kai was to him. His face grew warm.

Kai drew away, almost reluctantly.

"Thanks," said Rei, quietly. Kai seemed to have realised what he had been doing, and had already turned away and was perusing a motoring magazine with a blank expression on his face.

Well, that was odd, thought Rei. Perhaps Kai was the one that should be in A&E. He obviously had taken a blow to the head at some point. He grabbed a magazine himself and tried to immerse himself in the fascinating world of… he checked the front cover… fishing, apparently.

Fifteen excruciatingly mind-numbing minutes later, it was finally his turn to be seen. As he stood up and tossed the magazine back on the pile, Kai stood up, too.

"D'you want me to come in with you?" he said awkwardly. Rei felt, for the umpteenth time that morning, that there was something weird about how Kai was acting. Usually, he would leave his team mates to get on with it. Actually, he probably wouldn't even accompany them to the hospital. Must be concussion. Definitely.

"Nah, it's okay. I'm pretty sure I'll be in and out quicker than Tyson could eat a hot dinner." What was he blathering on about? This personality-transplanted Kai was making him nervous. He laughed in a strange way and followed the nurse out of the door hurriedly.

Just as he predicted, it was not long before he was rejoining Kai in the waiting room.

"Yup, it's a sprain. I wrenched my arm the wrong way when I was hit. Told you it was nothing to worry about. I just need to wrap it up and put an icepack on it – that should get rid of the swelling – and then I'll be back training within a week," he smiled.

"Good." Kai almost-smiled back, before checking himself and returning his face to its usual neutral expression. "We'd better go back and do that, then," he continued gruffly.

As they walked outside to wait for the car, Rei realised he was still holding Kai's scarf from when he'd had to remove it during his check up. Now it was his turn to weird Kai out. Grinning slightly, he sneaked up behind him and wound it around his neck as best he could one-handedly. Kai turned to him in confusion.

"Just returning the favour, sort of. I thought you might need it back, it's actually pretty cold out here," Rei laughed.

He was interested to note a vague pink tinge to Kai's cheeks. He really must be cold without his scarf if he was getting colour to his pale cheeks; after all, he was brought up in Russia.

Kai grunted his thanks and quickly got into the car that had pulled up in front of them. Rei walked round to the other door, sliding in with difficulty, as he was trying not to move his injured arm too much. Next was the seatbelt; that was the trickiest bit to manage. He clumsily attempted to reach over and plug it in, but a jolt of pain shot jaggedly up his arm. He sucked his breath in sharply.

There was a click and his seatbelt went taut. Without him even noticing, Kai had taken it from him and guided the metal key into the holder. He was now pretending that he hadn't done anything and gazing out of the window. As the car moved off, Rei felt more muddled than ever. What was Kai playing at? Rei wished he would just choose one personality and stick with it.

Back at the house, they were immediately confronted with a note on the door that informed them that the others had gone to the cinema, and would be back at around seven. Well, at least that would give his arm some time to rest before someone bumped it and made it worse. Kai strode past him without so much as a glance and went directly into the kitchen. Rei followed, for a lack of something better to do, and with an idea of finding the icepack to start his treatment.

On his arrival in the kitchen, however, Kai thrusted a chair in his direction, ordering him to sit down. Kai himself was rummaging in the freezer, and before Rei really had time to think, was de-slinging his arm and taking his hand, carefully stretched his arm out on the table. He gently placed an icepack onto the injured limb and sat down as well, facing Rei and still… holding his hand? What?

"Need to keep the arm flat," Kai said, by way of explanation. Rei nodded. Kai was just a little too close; Rei could feel their knees brushing together if either of them moved, and he was starting to feel rather uncomfortable. Not uncomfortable as in he wanted Kai to go away, just the feeling that something was going to, or should, happen. Silence fell between them, as it was apt to do if Kai was part of a conversation, and even this was weighted with expectation.

Kai was staring at a spot on the table somewhere to the right of Rei's arm. Rei found himself examining his friend's face. He had never really noticed how attractive he was. He had known why all the girls fancied him, of course; he was good-looking, and his 'strong and silent' personality provided an air of mystery. But Rei found himself more attracted by the hints of a different person shining through. The looks do help, though, he mused absently. Especially now, with his eyes averted, his face was a lot softer than with his usual glare. He seemed more human.

Rei moved his gaze down to their two hands, his still resting on Kai's. Unconsciously, Kai had begun to trace little patterns over Rei's palm with his thumb. It tickled, and Rei squirmed. This seemed to break the spell that had been hanging over them – they both started to speak at once.

"Rei, I-"

"Kai, what-?"

"You first," grinned Rei.

Kai opened his mouth to speak, but this time no sound came out. A fierce internal battle appeared to be raging in his head, and he frowned, clenching his free hand into a fist. Rei heard a very quiet "Oh, sod it" before he was dragged forward in a one-armed embrace, warm lips pressing themselves against his. Well, that explained a lot. He gave a little squeak of surprise before settling down into the kiss, tilting his head slightly to get a better angle. Kai's arm tightened around his shoulder, pulling him even closer, as Kai nibbled at his lower lip, begging further entry. Rei was perfectly happy to oblige. He opened his mouth a little, allowing Kai's tongue to slip in and massage his, probing its way gently. He hummed appreciatively and brought his hand up to run his fingers through the downy hair at the back of Kai's head. He tried to bring the other hand round, too, but that was pinned to the table by Kai's. Just as well, really. In the heat of the moment, he'd forgotten about his injured arm.

They broke the kiss slowly, lingering over a few feathery kisses before pulling away. Kai let go of Rei's hand to wrap both arms securely around the smaller boy, pulling him against his chest. Rei could feel his heart beating fast, or was it his own? He couldn't tell. They had sort of merged into one warm, happy bundle.

"Now, what were you going to say?" Kai asked curiously.

"I can't remember. Don't tell me I've got amnesia as well as a sprained arm!"

"Well, my surgery's just upstairs if you need some TLC," said Kai wickedly.

"Might have to take you up on that," replied Rei, laughing as Kai picked him up and proceeded to carry him towards the stairs.

"Does it look like you get a choice?"

Hmm... I don't like this as much as some of my other fics, but I thought I'd throw this out there :) Remember to review!

SapphyTheElf