AN: Hello! Long time no see! I'm sure you're all wondering wtf took me so long. Really the reason is I'm a very lazy turd and deserve a good bopping with a cardboard tube. Regardless! This is the third and final chapter! Thank you very much to Jane (Mourir) for fixing my boo boos.

This fic is for onee-chan up in heaven and for all those old Beyblade slash fans that I used to know back in the day. I miss you guys. =(

Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade or any of its characters. I merely write this fic for entertainment and do not gain anything from it.

-x-x-x-

Chapter 3: Loneliness is Worse

The heat was sweltering. Long hair stuck to her shoulders like leeches. The air conditioner wouldn't run, and the boiler had broken, spreading heat through the building. Rin pulled on the bottom of Mao's shorts looking parched.

"Come on, we'll get you a drink, sweetie."

The door swung open, and Rei sauntered in. He looked tired and flushed from the heat. "I talked to the super. Several things have broken. There won't be someone in to fix it until tomorrow."

"I hot." Rin sat on the carpet in the hallway. She fanned herself with her hand and made it clear she had no intention of moving anytime soon.

"That's it." Mao placed her glass on the counter and moved to the phone. She was on the sixth digit before Rei processed the movement and deducted who she was calling. "Kai…" He was on the verge of protesting but seeing how pitiful Rin looked, he swallowed his words. Kai would be unpleased, not only would his quiet evening be disturbed but he would have to put up with a female and a child. And of all the females in the world, it was Mao. Although Kai wouldn't admit to it, he held a certain resentment towards her.

Tuning back in Rei noted the look of frustration on Mao's face. This observation was only a second before Mao shoved the phone into Rei's chest and ordered him to talk to Kai.

"Kai?"

"Oh, she's gotten you in on this too?" He could picture Kai clenching the phone in his hand.

Which was exactly what he was doing, perched on a plastic covered armchair as he held a paintbrush in one hand. He certainly could have hired someone to paint his house, but he found it relaxing. Well, after he'd gotten Yuriy out of his hair.

"The commute's shorter if we stay there." Rei stated half heartedly. He wasn't all that keen on staying at the Hiwatari residence either.

"It's a mess and reeks of paint."

"At least it's not sweltering. I think Egypt was more manageable."

"How long will it be for?"

"Until the building has returned to normal."

There was a long pause which made Rei squirm a little. "Fine." Before any more words could be spoken Kai hung up the phone.

Rei sighed. There was only one way with Kai, and that was complicated. "He says to come over."

-x-

Keeping with the night's theme, the car's air conditioner wouldn't run. Rin looked ready to drop from being overheated while Mao was agitated. Rei felt some squirming in his stomach. He'd been here many times but never with the intention to stay the night with his wife.

Helmut, the slightly eccentric and elderly German butler, was waiting for them on the front steps when they arrived.

"Good evening, master Rei!" He exclaimed as the three got out of the car. "Oh! You've brought friends! Hello Mrs. Pink and little girl."

Rin stared at him as if he was an eight foot tall swamp monster wearing a pink frilly tutu, while Mao shot questioning looks between Helmut and Rei.

Rei couldn't help but smile. "Helmut, this is my wife, Mao, and my daughter, Rin." He turned to his family. "This is Helmut. He's one of the people crazy enough to work in Kai's household. Good at dealing with solicitors."

"Indeed. I have a shotgun in the front flower pot. I suppose I'll have to move that now that we have a little one around." Mao took a step back while Rin clutched Mao's shorts. "Showed the beaut to some Jehovah Witnesses and they haven't been back since. Now that I think of it neither have those Scientology nut bars." Noticing the alarmed expressions he slapped his forehead. "The barrel's all rusted out, it couldn't fire a thing! I just keep the outside polished to make it more convincing."

Despite the physical differences, one could swear that Helmut was John Cleese in disguise. One could see him as Basil Faulty wreaking havoc on those unfortunate enough to stay at Fawlty Towers. How a man such as this came to speak Japanese and work for Kai was a mystery to everyone.

"Would you mind taking the car to the garage while we head in?" Rei plucked the keys from Mao's shaking hand and tossed them to Helmut. "If she starts protesting give her a nice love tap on the dash." To distract his wife he took her by the arm and led her in to the mansion. "He's quite a good driver."

"Is he mad?"

"Oh yes. That's why he's so good. I was serious about the crazy enough to work here bit." Mao stared at him as if he was crazy as well. "We're here, Kai!"

A few seconds later Kai poked his head out of the living room. He was streaked with paint. "Use the west rooms attached the bathroom with the chipped marble counter. Dinner will be at 7:30" With that he returned to his work.

"There are seven guest rooms and 3 bathrooms upstairs." Rei explained.

After a quick tour which had both Rin and Mao in awe, the three headed downstairs to have dinner. They entered the dining room only to find the table covered with paint buckets.

"Ah! We're eating in the kitchen!" Helmut ushered them into the other room. Before them were two card tables in varying degrees of decay. One was sagging slightly from a steaming pot. "Paprika chicken!" Helmut exclaimed and gestured for them to all take a seat.

"It's Yori's night off so Helmut's concocted something." Kai was still covered in paint when he entered and looked well worn from a day of hard work. "Sorry about the mess. I did warn you though."

Rin stared at the food before her with disdain. She disliked the smell of the paprika. Scrunching up her nose she speared a piece of chicken and pushed it around the plate.

"You don't like it? This here is good Hungarian cooking!" Helmut exclaimed.

"She doesn't like the paprika." Kai stated. "There's some leftover rice in the fridge you can have, Rin."

Muttering in German Helmut took Rin's plate and began eating her portion before finishing his own.

There was some crashing from the front door. Mao was the only one to pay any mind to it. The paprika chicken sat oddly in her stomach and she worried what kind of lunatic it would be this time.

"That Aki, what a thing in bed! You ever give him a try, Kai?" Kai was the only one to understand it for it was spoken in Russian. Which was quite a relief to Yuriy when he entered to see everyone eating. "Ahh…" Yuriy smiled at Mao. "It's been a while."

"Not since you got drunk at my wedding." Mao smiled.

"Really?" Yuriy thought for a moment. "Oh yah and I told everyone I hadn't any underpants on."

Rei snorted. "I forgot about that. I remembered more clearly you asking to kiss the bride and kissing me instead."

"Now that I don't remember…" He slumped into a particularly unsteady chair and served himself some chicken.

"That's on the wedding tape, isn't it, Mao?"

With a frown she nodded yes. "We seemed to get a lot of interesting Yuriy footage that day."

"I'm glad I don't really remember what I did that night, because then I'd have to be embarrassed now."

"I kissed a goat once." Helmut sat up straighter in his chair. "Back when I was working at a farm in Russia. I was bet a bottle of good vodka to do it."

Everyone shot him an odd look then went back to their meals. Well, everyone but Yuriy for when he shifted in his chair it crumpled backwards and dumped him on to the floor.

-x-x-

"I have paint everywhere," Kai sighed as he slumped on to the plastic-covered couch beside Rei. Rei surveyed Kai with bemusement. "How'd you manage to get some on your eyebrow?"

"You know that crash about an hour back? It was Yuriy trying to be funny."

"We have a board meeting tomorrow."

"It's never going to come out, is it?"

"Of course not." Rei gently gripped Kai's wrist. "Come; let's see what I can do with you."

They went to Kai's room and were careful to lock the door. It was more to keep Yuriy out than anything, though he was off playing a drunken game of cribbage with Helmut.

By the time they finished washing, Kai's skin was red as tomatoes in some places. His eyebrow had been mostly salvaged. The heat was overwhelming to the two, especially Rei who was still fully dressed. Hands slipped to the buttons of his shirt and the two slipped into their casual routine. All was to be normal until there was a knock on Kai's door, and Mao called. "Rei, are you there?"

With practiced quickness the two straightened themselves and Rei answered the door.

"Rin's had a nightmare and is asking for you."

Rei nodded and headed down the hall.

-x-x-

It was a day of red-hot sun. It beat the water of the ocean into submission and dried the sand quickly. Between her fingers the walls of the sand castle crumbled away.

Mommy swam in the water, beautiful like a mermaid. On the beach were daddy and the mean Mr. Hiwatari.

Suddenly a giant wave came by. Mommy wasn't a mermaid any more. Now she was the seagull with a broken wing and was calling for help. Mr. Hiwatari began to laugh. Then so did daddy.

The sun went away and Mr. Hiwatari grew scary black wings and horns. He was a bad man! She screamed for daddy but he began to grow wings too. Then they kissed like mommy and daddy do sometimes.

Rin cried. She didn't like Mr. Hiwatari anymore; he was a very bad man.

-x-x-

To Mao's dismay Rin was left with Helmut the following Saturday. Their apartment building was undergoing major renovations. Apparently when someone came to fix the boiler there were more than a few things found not up to code. As the week progressed the remainder of Team Neoborg arrived at Kai's estate. Team Baifuzu had decided to arrive the day of the event so Mao went to pick up Lai and his wife, Bao, from the airport. Bao wasted no time in insulting Mao's dress, car and makeup. Lai looked ragged like he needed a bottle of moonshine but wouldn't dare use mouthwash for fear of his wife thinking he'd drunk anything alcoholic. In a way Mao was glad about having to stay at Kai's. Helmut's absurdity was considerably more tolerable than Bao. Actually, she found Helmut was even more tolerable than the cook, Yori (a shameless lesbian with a thing for Mao).

They pulled up to the hotel where the party was being held. Lounging outside were a group of younger bladers all having a smoke. Bao said some rude things about them in Chinese as they walked by. For once Mao was glad Bao only spoke one language. Especially since she couldn't hear the comments the boys made about her breasts.

Lai and Bao went to check in, and Mao proceeded to chat with Hiromi and Emily who were milling in the foyer.

"I love your dress." Emily said with a wink.

"Bao said I looked like a cheap hooker"

The three girls had a good laugh. Stories of Bao made their way to Emily and Hiromi more often than not. One of their favourite topics was her strict views on how one should dress.

"Mon dieu! Trois anges! Vous nous bénissez avec votre presence!" The three turned to see a lean and handsome French man coming towards them with eyes sparkling and arms outstretched.

"Oliver?" Hiromi smiled. "You're so handsome!"

"Merci! And you all look lovely. You still attract all the men, non?"

Mao held up her hand showing her wedding band. "I sure hope not."

"Mon dieu! Who is so blessed?"

"That would be me." Rei slipped his fingers between Mao's and extended his other hand to shake Oliver's. "It's been a long time."

"Indeed!" Ignoring the proffered hand, he instead gave Rei a hug then proceeded to give one to each of the women. "How appropriate that deux petit anges find each other!"

Mao turned a deep shade of crimson while Rei smiled. There was pain hidden deep in the smile, and Oliver was the only one to notice it. He made note to ask Rei about it later.

Noticing something behind the group Oliver clasped a hand to his mouth. "Ahh! Is that Kai over there? You are more handsome than ever yet seem no more friendly."

This jovial comment managed to make Kai smile ever so slightly. "You are more flattering than ever." He took Oliver's hand in a firm shake.

"Hey, they're over there!"

With those words all the joy sapped out of Kai's face. Annoyance began to overwhelm his features- annoyance that he hadn't felt in years. It was almost like an automatic reaction triggered by Takao's voice. It was then that arms flung around Kai and Rei's shoulders, and they pitched forward slightly under the momentum.

"Man! I didn't think you'd show, Kai!"

"It was more or less my doing." Rei released Mao's hand and very gently tried to pry Takao off.

"Figured you'd have to bribe him." Takao released the two men and bounced around them to face everyone.

"Yes, with countless nights of lovemaking." Rei smiled slightly.

During their last years as a team it became blatantly obvious that Kai had no interest in those of the opposite sex. Takao began saying that Rei was the closest thing to a female that Kai would ever get, only little did he know that the two were already together. To humour him they kissed in front of him once.

"What is this?" Oliver looked puzzled. "My goodness, Takao! You do not look so chubby, non! And are so handsome too. The ladies must be all over you."

Takao broke into an even wider grin. There was nothing he liked more than having his ego stroked. "Yah, but I already have the woman of my dreams." Four years ago while the dojo was being fumigated Takao had a literal run in at the hotel with a very sweet young woman who was an aspiring chef. The two hit it off naturally and found themselves married and with a very sweet baby boy shortly thereafter.

"Hey, where is Hana?" Rei glanced around the room trying to spot the energetic young woman.

"Oh yah!" He slapped his forehead. "She's going to be on Iron Chef this week so she headed down there early. I'm flying out tomorrow evening to meet up with her." Takao then proceeded to retell the last several years of his life for Oliver.

Eventually they made it into the hall and found their assigned seating. It had been frustrating work for the people assigning the seats. Not only did they have to deal with keeping teams together they had to accommodate for spouses and people that switched teams or even married another blader. Then there was always the problem of teams that held grudges. Tables of eight were really too small but were all they had to work with.

By some strange fluke the Bladebreakers found themselves sitting with team Neoborg while Mao and Max's girlfriend found themselves elsewhere. Unfortunately for Mao she wound up with Baifuzu which meant she was going to suffer with Bao all dinner. Meg, Max's girlfriend, found herself with Hiromi, Emily and the rest of the All Starz. Kai, to his utter dismay was seated between Rei and Takao. After a death glare, Max wound up switching with him and now Kai only had to deal with Yuriy.

Rei chuckled at Kai's unwillingness to sit next to Takao. "You two shall never change."

"It's so nice to be together." Takao grinned, completely oblivious.

"I would have liked to sit with Meg," Max muttered, but Takao was too busy bombarding the Russians with questions to notice.

"I need a drink," Kai muttered and put his head in his hands.

The meal progressed in a similar manner. There was a great deal of long winded speeches, some good food and excellent booze. That was the bit that Yuriy enjoyed the most. He was on his second vodka (and 6th drink by Rei's count) when it came time for Takao's speech. It was the shortest speech, saying how much of a father Daitenji-san had been to them all. This received a rigorous round of applause.

By the time the speeches were done, everyone was stuffed and many were on their way to getting completely plastered. The DJ came out and the dance began. At that moment Hitoshi appeared out of nowhere.

"Shit." Rei muttered and looked the older Kinomiya over. Hotter than he remembered- age had definitely treated him well. With him was another handsome man that looked vaguely familiar. It was the bandana- "Blader DJ!" Rei gaped.

"Wow, I haven't heard that in a while." He grinned and made a little wave. "Feel free to call me Katashi Mimura. No Tasha though, I am male." This resulted in a couple strange looks and a knowing smile from Hitoshi.

"S'hot," Rei heard Yuriy mutter before his arm slipped around Rei's shoulders, "let's dance."

"Yuriy, you're smashed."

"I realise that. Come dance sexy thing." Completely helpless Rei found himself pulled away.

By now Mao wished she was playing cards with Helmut. Or even that cook. Anything really to get her away from Bao. She was quite sick of hearing how Rin was being brought up wrong. She was about to make Rei dance with her when she noticed a completely smashed Yuriy had beat her to it. She watched them for a couple minutes before she saw them make a desperate trek to the washroom.

It started with Yuriy's comment of "Srsly, I'm sick." And it didn't take Rei long to realise that they needed to be in the bathroom 2 seconds ago. Miraculously, they made it just in time for Yuriy to relieve his meals of the day in one of the toilets.

"That's what you get for drinking too much."

Yuriy was exhausted now and seemed oddly more sober. "I know..."

They sat together on the cushioned bench for several moments before Yuriy managed. "I'm not me. Desk jobs aren't me. Suits aren't me. It's like-" He turned pale for a second and looked like he was going to throw up again, but the moment passed. "S'like I'm in someone else's life. But what'd chu know about that. You're happy."

Rei smiled and put his hand on Yuriy's shoulder. "I haven't been happy for years. I love Mao and Rin, but I don't. That's why I sleep with Kai as many times a week as we can. I'm a gay man married to someone that might as well be my sister."

Yuriy raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

"Honour, acceptance- doing the right thing which turns out was the wrong thing."

"Can't chu walk away?"

"Can't you?"

They sat in silence for a moment, pondering their lives before coming to the same conclusion: yes.

"I'd kiss you, but I taste like vomit."

Rei smiled. "Let's go find you some water. Some other time I'll take you up on that kiss."

"Ugh, hold that thought- vomit." And with that Yuriy stumbled his way to the toilet again.

Meg was finding herself quite lost sitting with all the bladers. She'd met the lesbians before, but she could only remember Emily's name. The red haired man beside her was quite drunk and talking loudly. "S 'Egg how'd joo meet Maxie?"

"At a flea market." She smiled weakly at her company. "He was looking for salt and pepper shakers, and I stopped him from buying some rubbish." At the raised eyebrows she added, "My family deals antiques."

"I never knew he collected." Hiromi frowned, "Good, I know now. It'll make buying him presents a lot easier."

"How do salt and pepper shakers lead to living together?"

Meg stared at the young man for a moment trying to recall his name. She thought it was something like Mick. "He said he liked salt and pepper shakers since they always came in unique pairs so they'll never be lonely."

"Sounds like Max." The other lesbian smiled.

"Speaking of Max- can anyone see him?"

Everyone glanced around the room in search of the energetic blader. It was hard to find anyone in the din unless they were sitting at the next table. Giving up, Mick (or was it Dick?) stood up. "He's over by the bar with Takao."

Meg stood up as well, but since she was 4'11" it didn't really help much. "All I see are a lot of heads.

Mick/Dick grinned. "I'll lead you. I've been sitting for too long, and there are some people I want to catch up with. You ever met Rei's wife?"

"I haven't even met Rei," she muttered as the giant of a man placed a hand on her shoulder and led her through the crowd. All she could think was 'Rei's the one with the long hair, right?'

Mao was contemplating the merit of ripping out her ears with the one fork left on the table when a hand was placed on her shoulder. Finally Rei had come to rescue her. Only the hand definitely didn't belong to Rei. When she turned around, she couldn't help the giant grin that spread across her face. "Rick!" She sprung from her chair and threw her arms around him in a warm hug.

"You look ravishing. If I were Rei I wouldn't leave you alone for an instant."

A light blush formed on Mao's cheeks. "He ran into the bathroom with a very drunk Yuriy about 10 minutes ago."

Rick grinned. "Yah, I've seen a few people enjoy the free bar a bit too much. Michael's a fucking Weeble at our table."

"Except he's going to fall down and not get back up at some point."

All attention turned to Meg, and Mao clasped her hands together in excitement. "Oh! Is this your girlfriend?"

Meg turned red, and Rick grinned. "Naw, she's Max's girlfriend, Meg."

"Oh!" Mao grasped the young woman's hand and smiled. "You're absolutely lovely. Unfortunately Max has been captured by Takao and needs rescuing." She turned to Bao and the rest of Baifuzu and smiled. "I'm going to help them find Max!" Before a word could be uttered Mao was dragging Meg away. "That woman with the absolutely perfect hair? That's my brother's wife. I detest her and her nasty tongue."

"Nasty tongue...?"

"She insults everything about me except for my hair." Mao sighed. The two women snaked around Kai and another man Mao didn't recognise. "Oh, Kai! You should probably check on Rei and Yuriy, they've been in the bathroom an awfully long time."

Kai wasn't even aware of who told him to go check on Rei and the dope. He was too intent on determining the identity of the young man standing in front of him.

"It's ok that you don't remember me." The man chewed on his lip and looked at the ground. "It's not like we ever knew each other well..."

"Yuuya.." Kai managed. The realisation was a shock to his system. The last time he'd seen Yuuya was him being loaded into an emergency vehicle. He'd gone to the hospital the following day but after finding out he was in a coma hadn't had the courage to go any further than the nurse's station. "You're alright." Were the only words that he could manage.

"Yah." He smiled and glanced at the floor.

A small part of him felt freed. Over the years he'd suppressed the feelings, but now they were as strong as that day many years ago. He probably would have cried then and there had Rei not placed a hand on his shoulder.

"Yuriy's sick in the bathroom. Can you sit with him while I go find some water?"

"Sure." Kai looked back to Yuuya. "Yuriy tends to drink too much at social gatherings."

"I see," Yuuya nodded and smiled knowingly.

"It was good to see you." He grasped Yuuya's hand and shook it firmly. He hadn't meant any words more since the first time he told Rei he loved him. Like every other time, Yuuya left as suddenly as he appeared.

By the time Rei reached the refreshments, there was a large group standing in front of it. He slid an arm around Mao's waist and smiled at everyone. "Hey, sorry I've been hiding away. Yuriy's more than a bit plastered."

"It's s'ok man!" Takao slurred. "We're having a good time w'out you."

Rei's grin broadened. It looked like Takao was enjoying the festivities a bit too much as well. It was then that Rei noticed the very adorable, petite woman practically dwarfed by Max's large frame. He extended a hand to her and she took it. "Rei Kon, nice to meet you."

She smiled sweetly. "Meg Harrison, and likewise."

Placing a quick kiss on Mao's cheek he glanced at everyone else. "Sorry to bail, going to bring Yuriy some water. Kai's in there now though so hopefully I'll be free in a few minutes to talk some more."

He made his way to the bar and grabbed some water. On the way back to the washroom he passed Lai who gave him a bit of a funny look. Shrugging it off he entered the bathroom to see Yuriy slumped against Kai and muttering about endangered species he'd watched programmes about on the National Geographic channel.

Mao felt someone gently place a hand on her elbow and a soft voice in her ear said, "we need to talk. Now."

-x-

It was nearly 2 in the morning when they finally headed home. Rei and Yuriy were dozing against each other. Even Kai looked thoroughly exhausted. Being too drunk to drive Mao had left her car at the hotel and gotten a ride with the men. Thoughts were heavy in her mind. Unbeknownst to Rei and Yuriy, there'd been a second room to the washroom that held more stalls and a seating area. Lai had been there fighting off a migraine. And being the honourable person that he was, Lai couldn't let news like this just fester in his mind. In a way the news almost soothed Mao.

As they neared the Hiwatari estate she finally decided he was sleeping somewhere else tonight.

Sleepily and/or drunkenly they all stumbled into the house and to their respective rooms. Upon reaching their room Mao promptly closed the door in Rei's face. "Go sleep somewhere else tonight. Don't make a ruckus, Rin's sleeping in here. I bet Yuriy will have you, maybe you can even keep him from choking on vomit in his sleep."

Rei stared at the door dumbly. "What did I do?"

After a moment of silence, Yuriy shrugged. "You do kind of smell like vomit from when I got your shoe..."

Rei stared at the door as Yuriy pulled him down the hall. "Hey, I don't have any pyjamas."

"'Jamas? Who needs 'jamas?"

-x-

"Rise and shine, princess!"

Rei awoke with a start. He would have gotten out of bed if Yuriy didn't have him in a death hold. Rei blinked confusedly at Helmut. His head was aching, and he felt mildly hung-over.

"What time is it?" Yuriy moaned.

"Half past ten," Helmut said casually.

"Fuck." Yuriy tried to better sink into the bed and clutched Rei tighter.

Ignoring Yuriy's mutterings Helmut continued. "Rei, your wife and daughter went out shopping. She seems annoyed. I think you may have done something very wrong. Well, besides your normal unfaithfulness." He wrinkled his nose. "Such a pity, she's such a lovely woman."
"She is," Rei sighed and managed to pry himself from Yuriy's hung-over body. "I'm going to go have a shower." Yuriy groaned in response. Helmut then went about trying to dislodge Yuriy from the bed.

Rei was almost in his room when Kai materialised at the top of the stairs. Kai looked his lover up and down with a questioning look. "Rough night?"

"Mao wouldn't let me in the room."

"Hn."

"That's all you can say?" Rei was about ready to sink to the floor and just die there. "Something happened last night. She knows." In a way he was starting to feel a bit of relief. Too bad it was completely overshadowed by a wave of despair. "God, she's going to kill me."

Ignoring Rei's lamenting Kai said, "Your apartment manager phoned earlier, and it seems your apartment will be liveable by Monday."

"My marriage has more than likely just ended, and all you can think is to tell me that I can move back into my apartment with my wife who probably wants to maul me?" Hysteria was something Rei avoided, but the tension and after-effects of all the alcohol were putting him on edge.

Kai sighed. "You don't know what she's thinking right now. You need to go sort things out with her before you start having a nervous breakdown. But always know you have a place here." He closed the distance between them and laid a hand on Rei's shoulder. "Do what you need to." The hand left and so did Kai. Rei knew he was alone on this against Mao.

He took a long, cold shower.

-x-

Rei amazed himself with how composed he was. They were sitting at a relatively secluded table at a rather pricy restaurant. Food was the last thing on either of their minds.

"I heard our apartment is ready to move back in to." Rei absently sipped his water.

"I think I'll have linguini, how about you?" Mao absently stared at her menu, not really paying attention to what Rei had said.

Rei sighed and looked won at his menu. "Spinach lasagne." Mao's nose wrinkled, she hated spinach.

It was funny. Their relationship was different yet this meal felt no different than any other they'd had over the last 5 years of marriage. There was no more or less love, only a raised frustration and lost respect. It unsettled Rei how Mao was so placid, and he was the one ready to jump out of his skin. They didn't say anything until their meal came.

"I'm disgusted."

Rei stopped mid-chew.

"I'm disgusted you couldn't say a word. Geez!" She slammed her fork on the table. "I figured the marriage to each other was mostly to please the elders, but I just- ugh, I don't know any more."

"You're any more innocent?"

"God, I only kissed him once, I didn't sleep with him!"

"This isn't a matter of the flesh, this never was." His sternness was now unnerving Mao. His words made it even worse for she knew it to be true. "Did you really want to get married in the first place?"

"No."

"The only difference between us is that you forced yourself into thinking we were going to live happily ever after."

That being said they continued their meal in peace until both of them were finished. The people around them kept giving them strange looks.

"Rin's not going to be happy." Rei finally said.

Mao nodded. "She doesn't like Kai."

Rei smiled. "At least she stopped biting him." Their waiter refilled their glasses and both went back to casually sipping their water. "What're we going to do for the moment?"

"I'm going home, you can stay with Kai. Just tell Rin you have very important work to do." Rei raised an eyebrow. "Don't give me that look. Despite my current appearance I'm very angry with you."

"Understandable."

Rei flagged the waiter for their bill, and they headed back to the Hiwatari residence.

-x-

A few months had passed since the whole disaster, and tempers were mostly cooled. It was now nearing the Christmas season, and Kai was starting to dread the upcoming week. Yuriy had more or less invited himself for Christmas, and then there was the whole ordeal of Mao and the Bladebreakers coming over for Christmas dinner. Kai felt a warm feeling in his stomach, though unfortunately it wasn't Christmas spirit so much as a mild case of indigestion.

Needing some quiet time from all the planning, he'd managed to send Helmut on a fool's errand to find some cookies he'd once eaten in America that most likely had never been sold in Japan. He was just about to collapse into his couch and start on the gigantic pile of mail when the doorbell rang. Cursing he got up, stormed to the door, and flung it open.

The woman from social services smiled forcedly at Kai. She hadn't even said hello and she knew her work was cut out for her. "Hello, my name is Mon-"

"Why are you here?"Kai eyed a boy sitting on his front steps behind the woman.

The woman sighed. "I'm here to speak with Voltaire Hiwatari."

"He's in Russia."

"Oh." There'd been nothing mentioned about the possibility of him being out the country when she was given this assignment. "When is he expected back?"

"Never."

She could feel the muscle in her eye warming up for a spectacular dance. "How can I contact him?"

"Through a medium. Just spit out what you need to say." Kai crossed his arms over his chest and scowled at the woman.

"A medium?"

"Oh for- he's been dead for a year now. Heart attack."

"Oh! I'm sorry!"

"I'm not."

The two were at an impasse. Kai was waiting to slam the door in her face, and she very well couldn't just leave now.

Seeing the lost look in her eyes Kai felt some small shred of compassion surface. Maybe the Christmas spirit had touched him? With a sigh he said, "Look, I'm his grandson. I'll handle whatever you needed him for."

"Are you aware that your grandfather had a sister?"

He gave her an increasingly cold look. "My family's never been close, I can't identify any bodies."

"It's not like that. Gou, come here."

The boy got up and scowled at Kai. It was unnerving, the scowls faded from both their faces. It was like they were looking at themselves- only 20 odd years apart.

"Hey Kai, lunch's ready. Rei appeared in the door and smiled warmly at everyone. He stepped back when he saw the boy. "I'll, uhh- set the table for four and make some more sandwiches." Kai nodded grimly at him.

Over lunch the story progressed like a soap opera. Rei was almost tempted to phone around to different TV networks to see if anyone would pick up the story. Knowing that Voltaire could take care of him, Mika Agori had sent her son, Gou, to live with her estranged great uncle. She'd found herself neck deep in bad business with all the wrong sorts of people. Right now Gou needed somewhere to disappear.

Deep in his stomach Kai knew that Balkov Abbey played a part of this. Maybe that's what sparked the sudden bout of compassion. For the time being Gou was to stay at the Hiwatari residence. In a state of shock, the social worker left, saying she'd be around later in the evening with a few more legal papers.

After settling the boy in a room and giving him permission to explore Kai and Rei sat in the living room.

"The goddamn strangest things happen to me." Kai put a hand to his eyes to block out the overhead lights.

"Maybe it won't be so bad. The house staff will be happy."

"After they all have heart attacks over my sudden act of compassion to a child."

Rei smiled and slid an arm across the back of the couch. "He's just like you, is that why you took him in?"

"Yes and no."

"You actually felt the fraternal pull?"

Kai stared at Rei as if he'd grown antlers. "Maybe I'm more compassionate than everyone thinks."

"Or more insane?" Rei teased.

"You'll be the first to go when I turn homicidal."

"Good, then I won't have to deal with all the sympathy cards and court case drama." Rei grinned before leaning in for a quick kiss.

Tentatively Gou poked his head around the corner and beheld the sight of Rei and Kai kissing. He'd seen mom kiss other men- and a couple times women, but two men kissing was new to him. As if sensing him the two adults broke the kiss and turned to the young boy. With a smile Rei got up and walked over.

"So, all done exploring?"

Gou moved more into the room and nodded his head.

"Alright then," Rei smiled and kneeled down before Gou. "What do you like to play?"

Gou thought for a long moment. He'd never been asked this before. "Colouring."

Rei's smile broadened. "Alright then, I think we need to go out and find some colouring books." He stood up then reached down for Gou to take his hand. "You coming, Kai?"

After a few seconds of hesitation, Kai nodded, "Hn."

And like that they left the house, Rei guiding Gou by the hand and Kai following right behind. Gou was feeling better about this all now. Sure he was no longer with his mother but these new guardians seemed pretty nice. Maybe- just maybe everything would be all right.

-x-FIN-x-

Thank you very much for reading! I always appreciate constructive reviews! Hugs for all!