Beyblade Fan Fiction ❯ Majesty ❯ Chapter 04 ( Chapter 4 )

Authoress' Notes: Sorry, everyone, for the delay in updating. I ran into a couple problems and I've been busy lately (go figure for someone on summer vacation! O.o) Explanation time! I do not normally consider writing mpreg fics and in truth I wouldn't call Majesty one under torture. There's only a little and its only function (other than character torture *winks*) is for a later scene in a later chapter… Yes, I know. Vague. You'll see. Other than that, there's not much else to say really. Oh! Right…one last thing. I did tell you Gramps would be back right? Then I suggest you read on! ^_^

Warnings: See chapter one if you're worried about it. This chapter: Rei's suffering therefore Rei swears a little. ^-^;; Don't mind him…

Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade or anything to do with it. Only this fic and it's OC's (if any).

Pairs: TyKa, ReMa, Hilary/Tala? or Kenny?, Lee/Mariah, others to be decided.

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Chapter 04

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"Man, I'm stuffed!" Tyson declared as he climbed the stairs behind Kai and ahead of Kenny and Hilary. "I haven't had a meal like that in…" He had to stop and think for a moment. "I can't remember the last time we feasted like that." His voice held much sadness and more grief. Hilary placed her hand on his shoulder in comfort.

"Think of all the people we were able to feed because we didn't, Tyson. Our people were so grateful, remember? The Clan of the Dragons shares all."

Tyson gave her a small smile, then sighed and shook his head. "Perhaps. Even if it only prolonged their suffering in the long run. So many are homeless now."

Kai, who had been listening without saying anything, felt a twinge of guilt and shame. It was his grandfather who caused Tyson's sadness and Kai could only feel the stigmatism that Voltaire had stained the Hiwatari name with. I promise you, Kinomiya…I willfind a way to put things right. He vowed silently and unlocked the door to the room he was sharing with Kenny and Tyson, pushing it open and stepping inside.

"Good night, Hilary. See you in the morning." Tyson waited until she had gone into her own room and locked her door before he went into his own. It was at this point that he registered the fact that there were only two beds in the room.

"Um…how are we going to do the sleeping arrangements?" He questioned, glancing back and forth between the beds. "I say Kenny gets one to himself because he's injured. So that leaves…" he trailed off awkwardly, missing Kenny's quickly hidden grin as the brunette turned to prepare for bed himself.

"I will tell you one thing, Tyson." Kai declared, hands on hips. "I refuse to sleep with a dragon."

"Why?" Tyson, for some reason he didn't quite understand, felt personally insulted by that statement. "It's not like he smells. Dragons are extremely picky about their personal hygiene, you know." Kai just glared at him stubbornly, not caring how clean Dragoon was. Tyson gave an exasperated sigh and threw his hands up in the air. "Fine! I'll take a blanket and pillow and he can sleep on the floor with me." He took the extra blanket that was folded neatly at the end of the bed and snagged a pillow, making himself a bed on the floor between Kai's bed and the window, grumbling under his breath.

Kai sighed and swallowed down his disappointment. He hadn't thought he'd offend Tyson and lose the prospect of sleeping so close to him - something he had looked forward to since the bluenette had kissed him earlier. Kai sat on the edge of the bed and kicked off his boots then began stripping down to his underclothes, ignoring the chastising gaze from his avian companion. Dranzer squawked at him once and he gave her a look that plainly said, "Get off my case."

"Come on, Dragoon." Tyson called his new friend over, and Dragoon went to him, curling up on the pillow next to Tyson's head. "Good night, my friend." He murmured, slowly stroking Dragoon's coiled form a few times before closing his eyes and going to sleep. Kenny had already dozed off up on his own bed, snoring lightly.

Kai found he couldn't fall asleep immediately so he lay on his side at the edge of the bed, looking down at Tyson, and watched him sleep until his own eyes closed heavily and he fell into his own slumber.

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Part way through the night, a strange purring sound woke him up abruptly from the very nice dream he'd been having. Kai opened his eyes and blinked owlishly into a pair of electric blue eyes, starting in surprise.

"Ack! Dragoon!" He moved back and scowled at the dragon. "What the hell are you doing?"

In response he got a concerned mewl and Dragoon made a pointing motion with the tip of his tail at the floor - or rather, Tyson. Kai frowned and looked over the bed curiously.

His frown deepened when he saw the other teen had apparently been thrashing around, his blanket obviously kicked away, and was now curled into a ball, shivering and whimpering. He was even turning blue. Kai threw back his covers and slid out of bed, kneeling on the floor next to Tyson and brushing his blue-black strands of hair out of his face. He saw the tears streaking Tyson's face and melted, carefully sliding his arms under the other teen and picking him up. Tyson whimpered and curled into Kai immediately.

Kai laid Tyson on one side of the bed and gently drew the covers up over him, then went around to the other side and slid in beside him. He looked at Dragoon and nodded to him.

"Thanks for waking me, Dragoon. I'm sorry…for earlier." Kai said in a low voice. The dragon bobbed his head and purred softly, moving to the end of the bed and coiling himself at their feet contentedly. Kai smiled faintly and turned his attention back to Tyson. He turned to lie on his side and lifted a hand to stroke Tyson's hair from his face once again.

He sighed when Tyson whimpered again and curled into a tighter ball, tears squeezing out of his eyes and trickling down his cheeks. "What are you dreaming, Tyson? And why do you affect me so much?" Kai asked in a whispered voice, gently rubbing away the wetness as each tear fell with the backs of his fingers.

Kai continued to watch over Tyson drowsily, until he simply couldn't keep his eyes open any longer. The fiery cold prince fell asleep with Tyson curled into the curve of his body, the bluenette's face pressed to Kai's chest and the fingers of one of Kai's hand buried in Tyson's hair, the other resting on the curve of Tyson's side. One of Tyson's arms was flung over Kai's waist and the other was fisted at Kai's heart in his shirt.

*~*~*~Tyson's Dream*~*~*~

"Grandpa! No!"

Tyson cried out, reliving the moment he'd lost his grandfather. If only he'd kept his big mouth shut…if only he hadn't made the Emperor angry…if only…

"Now, you stop that, little dragon." Gramps' voice halted the flow of 'if onlys' and Tyson looked around, blinking in the bright, glaring whiteness he suddenly found himself in. "All the hindsight in the world can't change what is, and you know that."

"Gramps? I hear you but I don't see you…" Tyson sniffled, tears filling his eyes again.

"Little dragon, I'm right here." The old man's chuckling voice made Tyson spin around to see his Grandpa standing behind him in his ceremonial Dragon robes that her wore at festivals and on special occasions - holidays, mostly - made from a dragon's hide, which, while it appeared scaly, was actually more like leather. Gramps' eyes sparkled as they had in his life - with energy and spirit. He gazed at his grandson fondly and smiled. "Well? Aren't you going to say hello?"

Tyson burst into tears and threw himself into Gramps' arms. "I'm sorry, Grandpa! I should have controlled my temper! I should have stayed quiet and let you handle everything! I'm sorry!"

The old man sighed and held the boy as he wept noisily. "Hush now, Tyson. It isn't your fault, you know. No matter what either of us had or had not done, the Emperor would have killed me anyway. I held too much power and loyalty among the Dragon clans for him to let me live to rise up against him one day." He drew away from Tyson, looking down into Tyson's shimmering storm blue eyes, his hands resting on the boy's shoulders. "Understand? I want you to let go of this guilt you're carrying around over me. It will only hinder you from reuniting our people and reclaiming our lands, Takao."

Tyson hung his head at the name. "I don't deserve that name, yet, Grandpa. I can't claim my adult name without the ceremony. Please don't call me that."

"I'm dead, Kinomiya Takao. I can call you whatever I damn well want to." Gramps snorted, folding his arms over his chest. "You'll get your ceremony one day, little dragon - since it seems to be that important to you. But I think if you asked Dragoon you would find he doesn't care about ceremonies that much. He knows who you are and that's all he needs, really."

Tyson shrugged. "I guess." He stared up at his grandfather curiously. "Why are you here, anyway? Just to tell me that?"

"Nope. Well, partly. Yeah." Gramps chuckled sheepishly. "Actually, I came to reassure you that you're on the right trail towards fixing things in the world. And to let you know that I won't rest until it's done. I will be with you on this quest, Takao, I promise you that."

"Thanks, Gramps. It'll be nice to know you're watching over me." Tyson smiled and Gramps grinned back.

"Whether you like it or not, kid." The elder Kinomiya agreed. "So have you got any questions for me at the moment? I've got a bit of time left before I have to end our conversation."

Tyson thought for a bit. "Well…I guess I should ask where Dragoon came from. What happened when the sword was destroyed?"

"Ah. Good question." Gramps nodded sagely. "I will tell you, Takao, but you have to swear not to reveal it to anyone - not even Hilary. It's a secret only the Kinomiya is allowed to know."

Tyson's eyes widened slightly and he nodded. "I swear."

"It's quite simple, really. When I heard that your father and Hitoshi had died in battle, I knew that we would be unable to hold off the Empire's forces for much longer. And knowing exactly what Voltaire was really after, I immediately used the ancient prayer of summoning I'd been taught as a boy and summoned our Guardian's spirit to consult with him and ask for his help." Gramps frowned. "I was confused and grieving. I didn't know what else to do at the time. Dragoon was very understanding and told me not to worry, that there was still hope and that there was one safe place for him to go if I was sure that the sword was no longer such a haven any longer. When I asked him what he meant, he just winked at me and told me not to worry. Then there was a bright flash of light and like a streak of blue lightning Dragoon disappeared and was replaced by a ball of blue light. I could feel the dragon's enormous power and I followed the ball to your rooms when it suddenly flew off."

"Wait! My rooms?! Why did he come to me?" Tyson interrupted, confused. "I'm barely eighteen and I am not much of a warrior yet."

"Well, I guess he sees something in you, Takao." Gramps smiled mysteriously and clasped his hands behind his back as he continued. "When I got to your rooms, I watched as the light engulfed your sleeping form and slowly faded away. At first I thought the Gods were playing a cruel joke on me but I realized that perhaps the safest place for Dragoon was with you. Of us all, Takao, you have always had a much closer affinity with the dragons than I'd ever seen or heard of. If anyone could protect him, it would be you."

Tyson took a moment to absorb that. "I see." He finally said. "So he's been with me the whole time? But how was he able to hide from the Emperor? I don't understand! Voltaire obviously knew where Dragoon had been for the last several centuries, after all. And what exactly was he planning on doing with Dragoon when he capture him anyway?"

"That's the nature of knowledge, little dragon. Ask a question, get an answer - and suddenly a million new questions pop up." Gramps patted Tyson on the head in sympathy. "I can't answer those questions, Takao. I wish I could. One who might have your answers happens to be quite close to you at the moment, however." He looked upward briefly - at seemingly nothing - then back to Tyson. "I'm afraid our time is up, little dragon. For now… Sleep, Takao. Sleep restfully."

Tyson blinked in awe as the old man waved, fading out of sight once more. Then everything went dark.

And he did sleep peacefully, curling further into reassuring warmth that surrounded him and felt comforting with a sense of possessive belonging he'd never felt before.

*~*~*~ End of Tyson's Dream*~*~*~

Tyson woke slowly, his conscious mind gearing up for the day as the first light of dawn spilled into the room through the window and bounced off his closed eyelids. Not opening them, since he wasn't ready to just yet, he rolled over, to face away from the window, and snuggled up against the warm body he found there happily, tossing an arm over the person's waist and burying his face into the spot between their shoulder blades with a sigh. He fell into a light sleep, feeling completely safe - something he hadn't really felt for a long time.

He didn't know that the person he was currently hugging like an oversized teddy bear was wide awake and blushing furiously - and had been from the moment the bluenette had rolled over, jolting Kai awake.

At the end of the bed at their feet, Dragoon lifted his head and checked them over briefly before shifting into a slightly different position to get comfortable again and went back to sleep, content that his human was okay as he was.

Kai lay there for a while, unsure if he should move or if he should just stay where he was and enjoy the closeness.

He opted for the latter, turning to lie flat on his back and allowing Tyson to snuggle him even more closely, his blue-black hair draping over Kai's chest where his head now rested over Kai's heart. Kai smiled to himself and slid his fingers into Tyson's hair, closing his eyes once more and dozing for a little while longer, his last waking thought that he could get used to this.

Neither heard Kenny get up not even a quarter hour later, nor did they hear his smothered giggles at the sight of them in such an…intimate-appearing embrace in the same bed and apparently content to be there.

When they did surface again, it was at Dragoon and Dranzer's combined insistence. The dragon at the foot of the bed used the tip of his tail to tickle the bottoms of their feet while the phoenix chirped and trilled above them from the headboard.

"Agh. Dranzer, give it a rest, would you?" Kai grunted and blindly reached for the covers, intending to drag them up over his head and go back to sleep. He tugged but found they wouldn't budge and cracked open a sleepy, wine-coloured eye to see what the problem was. "Dragoon…let go." He groaned, seeing the dragon holding the covers in place with his coils. Dragoon shook his head and mewled in an obvious demand.

At that point Tyson opened his eyes and yawned, blinking owlishly down at Dragoon with a pout. "What's the matter with you?" He queried, wriggling a bit and yanking his feet away from the dragon's tail. "Cut that out! It tickles!" He complained.

Dragoon mewled again and this time Dranzer squawked too.

"Alright! Alright! We're up! Sheesh!" Kai grumbled, rubbing a hand over his face and wiping the sleep from his eyes. "Are dragons always this annoying in the morning?" He asked Tyson grumpily.

"Are phoenixes?" Tyson asked right back. Then he blushed hotly as he realized where he was and whom he was practically wrapped around. "Ah…why am I on the bed?" He hurriedly removed himself from Kai and sat up.

Suppressing the disappointment he felt, Kai replied as he got up and began dressing. "You were dreaming or something last night and Dragoon woke me up because he was worried about you." He explained. "You were turning blue you were so chilled down there on the floor so I put you in bed with me." Kai glanced at Tyson, who was staring at him in stunned silence. "It wouldn't do to have you getting sick on us, Tyson. Especially now."

Forcing down the sudden wave of hurt, Tyson turned away and began pulling on his own clothes. "I see. So you just didn't want me to fall ill because it would slow us down or put us in danger." He stated quietly. "Well, thank you, Kai." Tyson had hoped it was because Kai cared for him a little.

Kai frowned at the dull tone of the bluenette's voice, unsure why he sounded upset. He set the moment aside to analyze later and asked instead, "Were you dreaming last night? It didn't look very happy…"

Tyson shrugged and laced up his boots, not looking at Kai. "Just a nightmare. One that I'm sure will haunt me for the rest of my life." He yanked viciously on at the laces at the memory of his dream. "I'll be fine."

The crimson-eyed teen watched him, a sudden flash of understanding hitting him. "It was your grandfather, wasn't it." Tyson's stiff form spoke volumes. "I understand, Tyson. After the fire that killed my parents I had bad dreams every night for a long time." He stopped, realizing he was doing it again - speaking of himself and his life to someone he hardly knew.

Tyson turned to him and Kai saw the heavy burden of guilt in those expressive blue eyes. "Did the dreams ever stop?" He wanted to know, needing some sort of hope that they would so he could take comfort in it. Knowing and understanding that but not sure why he cared or why he offered that hope to Tyson, Kai moved toward the door.

"Stop? No. But they diminished in frequency. I only have that dream when I'm under unbearable stress or had a really bad day." He responded, opening the door. "Let's go get breakfast and then we should all get moving. We need to travel as far as we can today." Kai told Tyson, before striding out.

Tyson watched him go. I wish I could understand you, Hiwatari. You push me away and at the same time you offer me comfort. One of these days I'm going to figure you out. Wait and see.

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After another day's hard riding, they finally reached the city of Marchantia. They rode through the city slowly, avoiding pedestrians, other riders, and carriages in the streets around them. Hilary had stars in her eyes at all the shopping prospects everywhere she looked and Tyson was also impressed with the variety and selection - as far as he could see without going into any shops, at least. But he wasn't really big on shopping so it hardly mattered to him as much as it did his cousin.

Kai, on the other hand, was pretty much unimpressed with all of it. And he was beginning to get agitated with so many people around. He despised crowds. Besides, he'd been to this city many times before so it was nothing new to him.

Kenny remained silent and didn't much care about all the shops and items for sale, since he, too, had been here before.

"Okay, Tyson. So where do these friends of yours live?" Kai asked, wanting nothing more than to get away from all these people.

"Well, I'm not entirely sure. You see, Max is from one of the smaller dukedoms the Empire…acquired and when it was learned that he was lifemated to a neko-jin, the Empire seized his family's business - an armoury and weapons-smithy." Tyson explained, his expression growing darker. "But then the Emperor learned that Rei was male and…"

Kai shook his head, wincing. "They were exiled. That stupid new law!" He sighed. "So they came here?" He felt a small amount of relief that this Max and Rei had at least managed to escape with their lives.

Others hadn't been so fortunate.

"Yes. Last time I received a letter from Max he'd set up a new armoury and weapons-smith here and was quite prosperous. The Mizuhara family was quite skilled at their trade and Max learned all he could from his dad."

Kai looked at him sharply. "Mizuhara? I know that name. 'Skilled' isn't the term that comes to mind when you describe their accomplishments, Tyson. More like 'phenomenal.'"

"They were renowned throughout many kingdoms and the Empire." Kenny added, awed. "They say no warrior wearing Mizuhara armour has ever been mortally wounded in battle."

Tyson shrugged. The Dragon clans did not depend on armour so he didn't really know. "I guess. All I know is I grew up with Max, since the kingdom he lived in bordered the Dragon's lands."

Hilary nodded. "And the constant trouble you two would get into! Mischievous little brats, that's what you were!" She added, poking her cousin in the arm playfully. "Their antics are legendary among the clans, Kai. They played tricks on anyone unfortunate enough to cross their paths, didn't you, Tyson?"

He gave a sheepish grin. "We had fun. Come on, Hilary! We were only kids." Tyson protested.

"Somehow it doesn't surprise me very much." Kai drawled, smiling inwardly at Tyson's embarrassed blush.

"You were terrors." Hilary shot back. "Remember the time you stole my brand new blue dress that I was supposed to wear to Hitoshi's naming ceremony and you two needed a flag for some game you were playing?"

Tyson flinched. Oh, he remembered all right.

"You and Max tore it up and used the fabric - silk - to make banners that you tied onto sticks and ran around the castle grounds with all day!"

Kai couldn't help snickering and Tyson shot him an embarrassed glare. "We were just kids." He maintained. "Only seven years old. We didn't know silk from cotton or how expensive it was! We took that dress because it was the only blue one and because you had so many we figured you wouldn't miss it."

"You thought wrong!" She huffed. "Gramps had that made specially for me and you two little brats wrecked it before I even got to wear it!"

"You're never going to forgive me for that are you?" Tyson sighed. Kenny giggled and Kai shook his head.

"Okay, that's enough. As interesting as it is to hear about Tyson's exploits as a child, we should figure out where we're going." Kai suggested and Tyson gave a relieved smile and a nod. "Was there any other hints in your friend's letter about where he lives?"

Tyson and Hilary exchanged a look, each thinking about that for a moment. "I don't remember." Tyson said. "It was nearly a year ago."

"I don't think there was, Tyson." Hilary agreed.

"Well, we'll just have to ask around and hope someone knows." Kai decided. "We should split up, I suppose, to cover more ground that way."

"If I could make a suggestion?" Kenny offered, hesitantly. The others looked at him and Kai nodded.

"Of course, Kenny. You don't need permission to speak."

"It seems to me that our best chance would be to find and armoury or weapons-smithy here in the city and even if it's not the one we're looking for, they should know where to find it. After all, a good, successful business should know where its competition is."

Tyson blinked. "That's a really fabulous idea, Kenny!"

"Very wise." Hilary nodded.

Kenny blushed.

So Kai led them through the crowded streets again until they found a weapons-smithy. They sent Kenny inside to make inquiries and when he came out again he had a smile on his face.

"The metal-smith says that the elder Mizuharas retired some time ago and are living in town now but that their son, who I'm assuming is Max, set up shop an hour or so out of town riding to the southwest. He said something about the boy's mate wanting to be closer to his own people."

Tyson nodded. "Yeah. Rei's people are from those mountains. I think the neko-jin tribes are linked to those mountains like the Dragon clans are to our lands."

"I guess we'd better get going then." Kai sighed. "In another hour it'll be starting to get dark out and we're all tired." He dismounted and gave Kenny a hand back up before climbing back on and nudging their horse into a walk. Tyson and Hilary followed them through the streets slowly and when they'd gotten back outside the city gates, they encouraged their horses to a brisk run to make better time.

Hilary continued to regal Kai and Kenny with tales of Tyson's childhood adventures as they rode, which Kai found vastly entertaining - not so much the stories themselves but the way they embarrassed the bluenette enough to give him a more or less permanent blush that Kai admired a great deal.

"Oh! And then there was this time that…" Hilary was about to launch into another story and Tyson really didn't think he could take it. So he quickly interrupted, just as he spotted a group of buildings in the distance that appeared to be a farm - or a smithy.

"Hey! I think that's it!" He exclaimed, pointing. It did the trick and Hilary got distracted enough that she forgot what she'd been about to say.

"Well, it could be it. I guess the only way to find out will be to ride over, knock on the door, and ask, right?" Kai suggested, smirking a bit because he knew Tyson was trying to divert attention away from his exploits.

Tyson ignored the smirk and grinned, moving ahead of Kai and leading the way down the wagon path toward the group of buildings.

"You're excited, aren't you, cousin?" Hilary asked, laughing into the wind as they rode. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. Max is your best friend after all."

"Yeah, well, it hasn't been the same without him around, Hilary." Tyson admitted wistfully. "We had some good times and I'll admit to missing him a lot since he bonded with Rei and they were forced to move. Heck, I even miss Rei and I didn't know him for that long."

"I know, Tyson. But they say when love finds you, you can finally be whole once more. Finding one's lifemate at such an early age is very special."

"Yes, I know that. And I would never begrudge them that, Hilary. I'm so happy they did find each other." Tyson sighed. "I just miss my friends, that's all."

Hilary patted his hand. "Don't worry, cousin. We'll see them again very soon and no doubt you'll be sitting up all night depleting Max's store of ale and reminiscing."

Tyson made a face. "Ugh. You know I don't drink much of that stuff. It's not pretty when I do."

She giggled. "Down right hideous, in fact!"

He scowled cutely.

Kai was chuckling and Kenny was trying not to giggle. The dual-haired teen glanced over and took the opportunity to needle Tyson - a perverse pleasure that Tyson made fairly easy for him.

"Are you telling me that you can't hold your ale, Kinomiya? Such a shame…" He teased, filing the information away for future reference. "I guess you haven't spent much time at the pubs then, have you?"

Tyson's scowl deepened and he growled back, "I have better things to do than to sit around and get drunk, thank you. At least I don't feel ill the next morning and suffer from a bad head, Hiwatari. And I suppose you think you're something great because you can?"

"Never said that." Kai drawled mildly. "I don't drink at all, actually."

Tyson blinked at him in consternation. "Then how can you make fun of me?"

"Easy. It's fun." Kai replied blithely. "Watch where you're riding, Tyson."

The bluenette looked back in time to avoid letting the horse run straight into a fence that surrounded the gardens in front of a fair-sized house. Kai reigned in and studied the place for a moment before dismounting and helping Kenny down.

"There's lamps lit inside so someone's home." Kenny observed.

"I'll go knock on the door." Tyson said after helping Hilary down from their horse. He turned to walk up the front path when the door to the house was flung open and a blonde blur came flying towards Tyson and launched itself at him, glomping the bluenette and knocking him to the ground.

"Tyson!" It cried in joy. "Tyson! Tyson! Tyson!"

"Agh! Oomph!" Tyson hit the ground and started laughing. "Hey, Max! Guess we found the right place after all." He hugged the other teen hard in return then shoved him off. "Now, get off me!"

"Heh. Sorry!" Max rolled to his feet and held out a hand to help his friend up. "I'm just so glad you're here! And Hilary too!" Max hugged her next. "I was beginning to panic but now that you two are here, I feel much better."

"Huh? What's the matter, Max?" Tyson inquired, since his friend did look rather harried and rumpled. Max grabbed both his and Hilary's hands and dragged them towards the house. "Hey!"

"You've both spent time among the neko-jin tribes, right? Especially you, Hil." Max said, not letting go. "You have to help us, guys."

Kai and Kenny, forgotten, exchanged glances then tied the horses to a post before following the others close behind.

"Help you with what?" Hilary demanded. "Did Rei get his tail caught in a door or something?"

Max gave a weak laugh. "No. If only it were that simple. Lee and Mariah…remember them? Well, they were supposed to be here for Rei's time. Two days ago. We got word of a landslide at the pass through the mountains this morning so they've been delayed, and…"

"Rei's time? Max, would you just tell us what's going on?" Tyson halted the flow of the blonde's words in exasperation.

His answer was a high-pitched yowl of pain from upstairs, followed by a very annoyed, angry, and agonized yell of, "Mizuhara Max! I swear I'm going to kill you if you don't get back up here! Damned if I ever let you touch me again, you…you…"

"I love you, too, Rei! Help's here! Just try to relax, love!" Max yelled back, sweatdropping and giving Hilary and Tyson an apologetic look.

"Relax?! How can I relax?! This fucking hurts!" Rei growled from upstairs. It sounded like his voice was getting closer to them - and they soon saw the neko-jin come down the stairs slowly, gripping the handrail for support.

Max made a worried, clucking noise and rushed over, wrapping an arm around Rei's waist to support him and guiding him the rest of the way down the stairs. "You're not supposed to be down here, Rei! You should be upstairs in bed!"

Hilary, Tyson, Kenny, and Kai stared at the raven-haired, golden-eyed teen.

"I see." Hilary finally managed to say. "That's enough explanation for me."

"Ditto." Tyson agreed.

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Authoress' Notes: What's a medieval romance fic without a ghost? ^______^ And I do so love torturing poor Rei, don't I? Please R/R!