Hmm, well here's the beginning of another fic. This one's quite short, but I took the basic idea from real life, so it's quite important to me. My soon-to-be-ex-stepdad is being a pain at the moment so I decided to inflict a similar one on Kai. And of course, to step up the angst I made him a hell of a lot worse and a bit of a psycho. So, here you go!
"Now I want to look at the different kinds of family that exist in the world today."
Rei sighed, watching his teacher scribbling on the whiteboard with very little enthusiasm. He'd decided about six months into a year long course that sociology was NOT his thing. He was sure that it was a very interesting subject, but he also knew that his teacher was the most boring person and the planet and racist to boot.
That was the reason why the back row of the class was the 'foreign' row. Jun-Mei at the end, then Rei himself, who were both Chinese, then Kai Hiwatari the Russian, and Michael Parker who was American and enjoyed nothing more than disrupting the class. That was why he'd been moved to the back in the first place. It had worked- no matter how many times Michael tried to talk to Kai the stoic Russian ignored him.
He was ignoring him right at that second, scribbling notes in Russian about what the teacher was discussing, which seemed to be nuclear families... With another sigh, Rei dragged his attention back to family varieties. "There is also the privatised nuclear family where the individuals have little contact with wider society. We must also consider reconstituted families, made up of divorcees, possibly with children-"
No sooner were the words in the air than there was a thud. People turned, then turned back to hear about extended families. Rei, however, was watching Kai. The thud hadn't been someone messing around...it had been the sound of Kai's heavy pen dropping from his hand, a hand that was now shaking in mid air. Rei was about to ask what the matter was when Kai stood up.
"May I... May I be excused?" He asked, voice rough. The teacher waved him away and he practically ran out of the classroom. Even at that Rei knew there was something wrong, and it was even clearer when Kai didn't return, even after twenty minutes. But...reconstituted families...maybe Kai's parents were getting divorced? Maybe he was getting a stepmother? A stepfather?
When the teacher finally realised that Kai was still not back, Rei volunteered to go and look for him. With another wave of his hand the teacher dismissed Rei. Rei promptly headed for the toilets, with a certainty bordering clairvoyance. He hurried through the beige corridors, still wondering what was bothering Kai. Then he started wondering why he cared...it wasn't like Kai was ever friendly at all, it wasn't like he actually -spoke- to anyone, except to make sarcastic remarks about people...still...
Rei pushed open the door of the toilets and tried to ignore the disgusting smell rolling out from inside. "Kai? Are you in here?" Silence. And then...a shuffle. As if someone was moving their feet quickly. "I can hear you, you know." Silence again, and then...the door of the cubicle swung open. Rei walked over and looked inside, to find Kai sitting there with his legs drawn up to his chest, looking depressed. "I suppose he wants me to go back to class?" Asked the Russian, sighing.
"Well technically he only sent me to find you..." Rei moved closer, concerned. "You look kind of upset...are you okay?"
"Yeah."
"Only...you seemed to kind of freak out when he was talking about divorced families..."
"Yeah. Well." Rei smiled reassuringly.
"Stepparents aren't so bad, you know. My stepfather's nice."
"That's not the problem. I have a stepdad. I have had for years...only..." Kai sniffed. "They're divorcing. My mum and my stepdad."
"Oh. That...must be sort of hard...why are they-?"
Kai shook his head, wiping away his tears with the sleeve of his blue jumper. "My stepbrother and sister...they're younger than me...but their mother says she doesn't want to look after them any more...so she's given them to my stepdad. But my mother has a full-time job...my grandmother's got senile dementia and she has to look after her as well...and she can't look after little kids..."
Rei bit his lip. "Sucks, huh?" Kai nodded, sniffing again. Rei could tell he was fighting not to cry, so he hugged him, feeling Kai burst into tears pressed up against his chest. It was strange to think someone as cold and horrible as Kai Hiwatari could be hiding such problems... "It's okay...it'll all work out fine, you'll see."
"No it isn't...he left for a few days to see if she'll change her mind but she just can't do it...it's killing her...she loves him so much and it's just...it's just not fair..." Kai sniffed again, pulling away. "Huh...it's not like you care."
"Why do you think that?" Asked Rei, puzzled.
"I'm sorry, have you been deaf for the last two years? You know, all that time I spent laughing at you because you're gay? Which, for the record, is still sick."
"I know it's hard for you right now. You can insult me if you want to. But it's not really sick. I just feel more comfortable with men than with women. It's not a thing I chose, that's just how it is. Like you can't choose what your mum and stepdad do."
"Yeah. Well." Rei put his arms back around Kai and rested his chin on top of the Russian's head.
"So is he coming back or is that it? Is it over between them?"
"I don't know...he might want money...or...or...he married her a while back, he could make her sell the house and take half...or...or he could...he could take stuff..."
"Hey, calm down. It'll all turn out okay. If they haven't been married more than a couple of years he can't ask for half the house, so don't worry about it. What about your stepbrother and sister? Won't it be nice not to put up with them?"
"But I never had to! We only saw them for a couple of nights a week! I hardly ever spoke to them!" Kai snivelled. Rei stroked the Russian's hair gently. "I keep expecting him to turn up on a night and I get so worried..."
"What, was he...violent?"
"No...but...but I keep thinking about horrible things happening and I...I don't want to be at school, I want to be at home with her to make sure she's okay...I mean...she's so depressed and I...I think she might kill herself...or if he comes back and she's alone he might force her to take on his kids and she'd go mad! It's too much work for one person to do!"
Rei dug in his pocket for a second then pulled out his mobile, holding it out to Kai. "If you're worried about her, call her."
"You...wouldn't mind?" Rei shook his head so Kai dialled home with nimble fingers. He waited a couple of seconds, then started talking fast in Russian, sounding concerned. Rei leaned against the wall of the cubicle and waited for him to finish.
Before he knew it, Kai was handing him back the phone, looking marginally more happier. "She's got one of her friends round there with her."
"See? She'll be okay."
"She says she's been divorced once before, so she can do it again..." Rei nodded, smiling.
"Do you want to go back to class or shall I say you felt ill and you've gone home?"
"Would you?"
"Well...yeah. Do you want my mobile number in case you need to talk to someone?" Kai blinked.
"Have you forgotten how badly I treated you?" Rei hugged him again, shaking his head.
"I don't hold any grudges. At least you treat -everyone- badly, it wasn't like it was only me you were horrible to. Anyway, it's true. I do like men. I am gay. To be honest, when you started insulting me I'd just think about how nice-looking you were. Are still, actually."
Kai sniffed. "Yeah well. Don't get any ideas."
"I'll get plenty of ideas...I just won't act on them." Rei produced a pen from his pocket and started writing a number down onto Kai's arm in purple ink. "Give me a ring later if you get worried, okay?"
"But..."
"Hey, I don't care what you think of my sexual preferences, but are they all I am? I can still be your friend. It isn't like I won't be in, after all. I get on well enough with people in school but...I'm Chinese. I don't fit in. That's what they invented the back row for, people like me and you." Rei snorted. "Gay and Chinese, what chance do I have of a social life in a homophobic, racist town like this?"
"But I..." Rei put a finger to Kai's lips to shut him up.
"If you get worried and you want to talk, give me a ring. I'm not making you, I'm not even asking you to. I know you don't agree with me, and you might not like what I do, but a person is always better than your own paranoid thoughts. Unless they're an evil dictator. Which surprisingly I'm not. I don't care what you called me before. Just...if you need someone...I'm here."
"Thank you." Said Kai quietly, standing up. He towered a good few inches above Rei, but the Chinese boy didn't seem to mind. Kai rolled down his sleeves and shrugged. "I'll just go back to class. I'll pretend I felt ill."
Rei smiled up at Kai and and took a chance, winding his arms around the Russian's waist and hugging him tightly. Kai blinked a couple of times then slipped his arms around Rei, holding the Chinese boy against his chest. He let go after a few seconds, sighing. "We should...go back to class."
"Yeah. But don't forget. If you need someone-"
"Just phone. I know."
Rei jumped as his mother opened the door of his bedroom. "Yes mother?"
Xiang Kon surveyed her son, who was sprawled on the floor with a book. "Your room is a mess, Rei. And there is someone on the phone for you. He says his name is...Kay? Ki?"
"Kai."
"Yes, that's it." Xiang held out the portable phone and Rei took it. Xiang walked out, shutting the door behind her.
"Kai?"
"You said to phone if I got worried...and...he's phoned her mobile and they're talking...but my mother keeps shouting and I...I can't really hear properly but she sounds so angry..." Rei immediately caught the undertone of fear in Kai's voice and felt his heart go out to the poor Russian. It wasn't easy bringing together two families, Rei knew from experience, and he was only glad that his stepfather hadn't already had children before he'd come to live with them. But Kai...
"It's okay, Kai."
"But it's not! He could be saying anything to her! He'll...he'll use emotional blackmail or something and she'll crack!"
"Kai, calm down, okay? If you really want to know what she's saying, lie on the floor and put one ear to it. You'll be able to hear her."
There was a silence from the other end of the phone, then Kai was back. "She just told him to stop being so ridiculous..."
"See? Your mother'll be fine, Kai. Are you okay, though?"
"No. Not really. No-one's telling me anything, and I don't know what's happening..."
"I know. My parents never told me anything. Mind you, I was only about seven at the time..."
"Yeah. Well. I'm not, am I?"
Rei smiled. "Hey, calm down. It's not so bad. He could have murdered her or something.." There was a muffled sob from the other end of the phone. "Kai? Oh come on, don't cry... I...I didn't mean it like that...nothing's going to happen to your mother..."
"But...what if-?" Rei sighed, looking over at the clock. It was only about six o clock...
"Kai, look, do you want me to come over? I don't want to sit here at the other end of the phone while you cry..."
"B-But I..." Kai sniffed. "Why do you want to help me so much? I've never been nice to you!"
"Well...just because you don't want to be nice to me doesn't mean I should carry it on, does it? Where do you live?"
"Eighteen Windtree Drive..."
"I'll be round in a few minutes, right?" Kai sniffed.
"Yeah."
Kai sat there on his bed waiting to hear a knock at the door. What he wasn't expecting was a knock at the window. Puzzled, he got up and opened the curtains, only to see Rei balanced precariously on his windowsill outside. He immediately threw open the window beside it and pulled Rei inside, lowering him to the floor carefully. "What were you doing up there?"
"Well I didn't think your mother would particularly want to be bothered..."
"So you climbed the side of the house? Are you mad? You could have fallen off, or-" Rei put a finger over Kai's lips as he had that morning.
"Shh. I'm supposed to worry about you, not the other way round. I'm good at climbing. Anyway, how are you?" Rei's finger traced up to Kai's red-rimmed eyes.
"I'm scared..." Rei sighed and folded his arms around Kai's waist.
"You know, if only you were gay I could kiss it all better..." Kai pulled a face.
"I honestly don't know what you like about men. At least...not like that..." Rei giggled and pulled Kai down to sit on the bed, settling himself on the pillow with his knees to his chest and his hands clasped loosely around them. "Why shouldn't I like men? What's so strange about it?"
"Because...men and men...just shouldn't. A man and a woman...fits."
"What, you mean like a stick in a hole?" Kai blushed and nodded. "So what the hell do you call anal sex then?" Kai blushed furiously and Rei laughed. "Seriously, though...I don't think there's that much of a difference. I just happen to like flat chests...and penises." He waved a hand, trying to find more ways to describe how he felt. "I tried girls, a long time ago, and I never...it was never...enough. And then I got into guys and I...realised that that was what I'd wanted all along..."
"You like having a penis up your backside?" Kai asked disbelievingly. Rei howled with laughter.
"I'm still a virgin, Kai, so not yet. It's not that bad, I'm sure, and even if it is...well, hey. I still don't think you can judge if you haven't tried both."
Kai laid back, head hanging over the edge of the bed. "What do your parents think of it?"
"I've never told them. My father's the epitome of Chinese tradition, he'd have a blue fit if I told him I like men." Kai was about to reply when there was a furious screech from downstairs and the sound of something being hurled at a wall. Kai jumped up and went to his door, calling downstairs in Russian. Kai's mother answered, and Rei could hear her distress even without understanding what she was saying.
Kai cast a glance back at Rei and then went out, hurrying down the stairs. Rei sneaked out and looked over the bannister. Kai was standing in his line of sight, talking reassuringly, then as Rei watched a beautiful blonde woman came forwards, hugging Kai tightly. Not wanting to intrude, Rei snuck back into Kai's bedroom, then realised that the Russian would probably be comforting his mother for quite a while.
Rei dug in his pockets for a pen and a piece of paper and wrote Kai a quick note saying that he'd gone home, and not to worry too much because everything would turn out alright. Then of course he had to climb back out of the window...
Next Chapter: Kai's stepfather comes back, and Rei has to do some quick thinking.
R&R please!