TalaRei

My New English Tutor

--

Rei sighed and ran a hand through his wet hair, staring at his tanned reflection in the mirror. He didn’t know what was making him put in effort for this thing. Maybe it was for Max; his close friend that had been one of the first to meet him when he got to Japan at thirteen. Maybe he wanted Tala to feel bad for what he missed.

Maybe he just cared about what he thought.

Grabbing the hairbrush he started to run it through his knotted hair, golden eyes staring intensely at the locks and brain focused on the task. He had more important things to worry about than why. He had to worry about how he was going to make himself look good. Mao was out of the question as she couldn’t find out what was going on until he was sure she wasn’t in her happy little bubble. Knowing her she’d try to get them together again. And looking for Lee’s advice on how to look good was hopeless. He was better off on his own.

He put down the brush and gripped the sink, breathing in deeply. He didn’t know what it was exactly that bothered him about the idea of him and Tala ‘back together’. Maybe it was the pain of the fact that they were never together in the first place.

He looked back up at the mirror which was now slightly blurry. “Should’ve trusted Lee’s judgement.”

But he didn’t. And that was in the past. Now all he had to do was get through this night and he’d be able to forget it all.

The talk with Tala worried him. He’d agreed to it. Or Lee had. And Tala just had that way with words. That way that made them so believable, so beautiful, so...

He cursed and threw his brush across the room.

It was nothing worth getting angry about. He hated him now. That’s what mattered. Hated.

“God, this is hopeless.” Rei muttered to himself. “Absolutely hopeless.”

He couldn’t fool himself out of whatever it was that he had grown to feel for Tala. It just wasn’t his thing.

“All you need to do, Rei, is get dressed, dry your hair, and get out the house. Eat dinner, act like nothing happened, then go back to your everyday life that you had before he came along.”

He sucked in a breath, straightened his face and plugged in the hairdryer.

Eventually he left the bathroom, waist wrapped in a towel and hair relatively dry and wrapped in a long, tight plait. He walked into his bedroom alone, meeting another mirror. He played with his bangs. Opening the wardrobe he glanced over his clothing.

He couldn’t decide. It was too dark, or too light, or too formal, or too casual. Nothing was perfect. He wanted to be perfect.

“I can’t do this,” he muttered, a hand supporting him against the frame of his closet, the other massaging his face. “Why did I even agree to it.”

But he’d already been over that part.

His phone started to ring and he looked over at it on the table, cringing slightly as it vibrated in circles. He walked over slowly and looked at the caller ID, thankful to see it wasn’t Tala. Not thankful to find Max’s name flashing at him.

“Hey Maxy, what’s up?” he asked, forcing a pleasant voice.

“Oh my gosh, Rei! You have to help me! We’re going to a nice restaurant and I have nothing to wear!” he exclaimed, panic seeping through the phone line, creating a painful migraine for Rei.

“I’m sure you have something, Max.”

“I don’t!” he cried, making Rei sit down on his desk chair. “I’ve gone through my whole wardrobe, I have nothing!”

Rei sighed, looking up at the ceiling, thinking for a moment. “Wait there,” he said. “I’ll come round.”

“You’re a lifesaver, Rei! I don’t know what I’d do without you!”

“I can’t believe you’re making such a fuss over a date,” Rei muttered. “You’ve been on plenty before.”

“Yeah, to the movies or Burger King, not a fancy restaurant. I work in those restaurants, not eat at them.”

Rei groaned. “Just hold on, I’ll be round soon.”

“I love you!”

The beeping sound of the phone hanging up rang in his ear.

Sighing again, he pushed himself up from his slouch and clicked the little red button on his phone. He waited a few moments before standing, dropping his towel round his ankles and pulling out random items of clothing from his wardrobe. A red satin Chinese shirt. A pair of black tracksuit bottoms. Black flats. Whatever he could get a hold of. He was out the house in a matter of minutes.

He pulled his bike out of the garage and hopped on it, pushing off and gracefully speeding down the street, past the little kids who were playing curby and football. Max didn’t live too far away, but while biking past the bridge and the field he wished it was closer.

“Rei!” came a shout as soon as he’d stepped off his bike. “Rei, thank you so much! You’re a god!”

Rei patted his blond friend on his back. “Let’s get you changed then.”

“You look so pretty,” Max complimented with a big smile. “Tala will love it!”

He had to force himself to keep his own slight smile. “Thanks.”

“Now I really don’t know what to wear,” Max said with a nervous smile. The look on his friends face calmed Rei down slightly. Seeing Max this worked up about a date made him glad that he agreed. The boy hadn’t looked this enthusiastic since Hiromi and he broke up.

“What about that nice tight blue t-shirt?” Rei suggested, pushing his friend into the house. “Or a baggy one. They’re more you.”

Max groaned. “Fancy restaurant, Rei!”

“No offence, but you don’t really own fancy things.”

“I know! It sucks!” Max sighed and slumped onto the couch. “What am I going to do? I don’t have anything...”

Rei flickered through his wardrobe. “You must have something! What do you wear to work?”

“I’m not wearing my work shirt.”

“Fine, go in a t-shirt then-“

“A pale blue shirt.”

Rei grinned and pulled said shirt out. “Put this on. It’s perfect, and matches your eyes.”

“You’re so gay,” Max said with a laugh before getting a face full of fabric.

“And let’s see; trousers...how about jeans? Makes your shirt less fancy.”

“But don’t I want to be fancy?”

Rei raised a brow. “It’s not you, Max. Let your outfit compliment you, not clash,” Rei threw the jeans at his friend. “They’re nice. Wear a nice jacket with it.”

“How about my green-“

“A nice jacket, Max. Not the green one,” he sighed. “Anything but the green one.”

The blond pouted. “But I like the green one.”

“I know, trust me, I know. But it’s not nice. Deal with it,” Rei walked to the door. “You change, I’m going to get a drink, and then we’ll go to my house and get my car.”

--

Rei smiled warmly at his friend who was sat opposite him and next to his date. Rei was next to his own ‘date’, and the two of them were acting as usual, with a little bit of tension on Rei’s half. Tala was cool and relaxed, possibly more so than usual, but Kai would occasionally give both of them a suspicious look. Max didn’t seem to notice Rei’s tension, however.

“Thanks for bringing us here, Kai,” Max said, giving the Russian his full attention. “It’s really nice.”

“You’re welcome. I wasn’t sure, as you work here.”

Tala cleared his throat and stood. “Excuse me, bathroom.”

Kai nodded. A few moments later, the Russian started to move.

“Excuse me!” Rei cut in before the other had a chance to say it. “Ha, bathroom. Must be our drinks or something!”

Max looked horrified. Kai looked a mixture of suspicious and pleased.

Rei leant against the wall, taking in a deep breath. “This is harder than I thought it would be.”

“What is?”

He glanced at Tala, unsurprised. “Acting like nothing happened.”

“That’s because something did happen-“

“But we’re not talking about it now,” Rei snapped. “Not in the middle of this evening. I came here so Max and Kai could talk together alone for a while. Nothing more.”

Tala was suddenly very close to him. Too close. “Nothing more, huh?”

Rei held his breath. “No.”

Their breath mingled. “I suppose you wouldn’t mind if I took a little something then?”

Rei growled. “You’re not helping your cause.”

“Yet I just can’t help myself,” Tala purred, dipping further in.

Rei froze, stiffening at the familiar feeling of a foreign kiss. It was different. Softer. Almost needy. It made him want to crumble. So he did.

He was soon sat on top of a sink, his legs wrapped around the back of Tala’s, whose hip bone was pressed against his crotch. Rei pulled the Russian further in, but neither made an effort to include tongues. Just a pure, harmless lip lock. Until someone came in.

Rei pushed Tala back as Tala moved away, and the black haired boy slid off the counter. They were both blushing heavily, and Tala nodded coldly to the guy who was standing at the door. He walked out quickly, and Rei swallowed a lump in his throat.

“Ex-excuse me,” Rei said quickly. “Just...”

The guy winked at Rei before walking into a stall. The Chinese boy turned to the mirror, horrified, before running out the bathroom.

He walked quickly to his table, seeing the other three sad down. Tala stood and let him pass.

“Are you okay, Rei?” Max asked, looking mildly worried. “You look flustered.”

“I’m fine,” he said, gritting his teeth.

Not even Tala could hide the tension this time. And not even Max missed it. The meal followed an awkward silence which Max would try to fill. Rei started to relax watching Max babble on and laugh while Kai would sit and smile softly occasionally. He glanced to his left. Tala was there, eating with an indifferent expression on his face.

“I’ll get the bill,” Kai said, raising his hand to a waiter.

Tala nodded his head. “I’ll pay you back.”

Max turned to the fair haired Russian. “How much do I owe?”

“I’ve got it,” Kai replied. Max opened his mouth to complain, but one look from Kai shut him up. The Russian got out his wallet.

Rei watched the couple walk out the doors; Max grinning at him over his shoulder as Kai confidently put an arm around the boy’s shoulder. Rei smiled back, unable to be uncomfortable. Even if he was absolutely fuming at the redhead next to him, watching his friend walk out with a man and having his own beside him made him warm.

“I’ll take Max home,” Kai said sharply when they were outside, leaving no room for the bark the Rei had in his throat. “Take Tala home would you?”

“What?!”

Max grinned and hugged his friend, whispering in his ear. “Thank you Rei!”

That halted whatever Rei was thinking. “Sure?”

Max bounced off to Kai’s blue car, the owner who simply walked with that air of arrogance, opening his door. Rei watched them drive off and Tala gave him an odd look. “Are we going or what?”

“I don’t want to give you a lift home!” Rei whined.

“Fine, I’ll get the bus,” Tala said with a careless shrug, walking off. “Later.”

“Wait.”

Tala stopped in his tracks.

“You wanted to talk to me.”

He didn’t move.

“Then talk. Before I change my mind and leave.”

“I’m sorry,” Tala said, not turning round. “I didn’t mean for it to get this far. When people find out I’m an orphan...Mao assumed I was rich when she told you about me, and I didn’t see any harm in just going along with it.”

“You lied to me!” Rei said loudly. “You made me look like an idiot!”

Tala turned round, blue eyes burning. “I was planning on telling you!” he snapped. “But you never gave me a chance! When I told him-“ he breathed in. “Look, let’s just drop it. It was a big mistake, and I should’ve stopped myself from doing anything with you.”

“When you told who?” Rei probed. “Tell me.”

“When I told the last girl I fell for,” Tala growled. “She went running. She didn’t want to be associated with homeless scum I believe hey words were. She thought he was dating some rich kid from the international school, when I was on scholarship. I wasn’t rich, just smart, and all of a sudden her dreams were broken.”

Rei sucked in a breath. “You thought I’d be like that?” he asked quietly.

“After I got to know you,” Tala sighed. “No, I didn’t. But by then it was too late. I didn’t plan on carrying on this for so long. I don’t do relationships.”

“Well I do.”

Tala stared into the amber eyes.

“I do relationships. Sure, I haven’t really done many before, but I do relationships. And I do honesty,” Rei walked forward. “And I’m into you.”

Tala swallowed the lump in his throat as the tanned hand grazed his pale cheek.

“But I’m kind of upset that you lied to me.”

“I know,” Tala cringed.

Rei pursed his lips together and walked towards his car. “You coming?”

Tala huffed and kicked the floor before walking to the passenger’s side.

“Direct me to your Orphanage then,” Rei said. “What’s it called?”

“Yume Orphanage,” Tala said. “Head to Yume General Hospital, it’s connected.”

“I figured,” Rei replied.

The car ride was long, silent and painful. Tala stared out the window, clearly not impressed, while Rei kept his eyes trained on the road in front of them. Occasionally Tala would point out a short cut, telling Rei which way to go.

Rei saw the large gates before he saw the building. The red brick wall and iron gates made it look like a European boarding school. There was a large, golden plaque on the side that read ‘Yume Orphanage’. The gates were shut.

“Open the window,” Tala ordered, and Rei did as he was asked. He leant passed Rei and pressed a buzzer.

“Hello, this is Kiva speaking. How may I help you?”

“Keev’,” Tala called. “Open the gate would you?”

“Only Teacher can open the gate-“

“Shut up and open the fucker,” Tala sighed. “I do it for you all the time when you come home with strangers.”

There was a pause. “Asshole. Opening gate- this button, right?”

The gates opened.

“Cheers Keev’! I owe you one,” Tala called before leaning back. There was the sound of static from the speaker and Rei drove into the Orphanage grounds.

“Thanks for giving me a lift,” Tala said. “I’ll...see you?”

Rei bit his lip. “Yeah.”

Tala squeezed his eyes shut. “Fuck this shit,” he said before turning and smacking his lips against Rei’s.

The Chinese boy replied eagerly.

Wet tongues danced and hands pulled and grabbed, trying to blend their faces together. Tala undid his seat belt and clambered closer to Rei, grabbing black locks of hair and flicking his tongue around Rei’s. Rei wrapped his arms around Tala’s neck, running his fingers through red hair desperately.

Tala pulled back first, swollen pink lips following him slightly.

“We shouldn’t have done that,” Rei said, licking his lips.

Tala agreed. “We shouldn’t have.”

“But we did.”

The taller boy cringed slightly, almost scared. “...do you regret it?”

“No. Do you?”

“I don’t know. No. Maybe. I don’t know,” he shut his eyes. “I’m just...confused.”

Rei nodded.

“I’m going to go. Later.”

“Bye...”

Rei watched Tala walk towards the old building, hands stuffed in his pockets, shoulders slouched. A brunette girl opened the front door, and Rei assumed it to be the girl who opened the door for them. She waved slightly at him and Tala pulled her in the house.

He drove out, not looking back.

--

Kivea: I don’t have an excuse this time. I’m just lazy. I’m moving back to England too, so things are a bit rushed and up in the air and shit. Iono.

Thanks for the wait.

Ja ne ~

Kivea

PREVIEW

“So, how do we do this?”

“I guess we just go with it.”

“Right. Never done this before. Not for a long time.”

“Then we’ll have to make sure this time it works right, huh?”