Do You Trust Me Enough?

Rim: I know I know I dropped off the face of the writing world yet again. I didn’t mean to. But working on eleven in progress stories and having a job is not an easy thing to do, so I’ve been juggling everything around. I know more excuses *bows* here’s the next chapter, please don’t kill me.

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Tyson looked around the high ceiling entrance into the mansion, a low whistle escaping his lips as he continued to look around, seeing as how this was their first time in Kai’s house ever. In fact, he tended to forget Kai’s family was this well off in the first place. “Seriously, this place is huge I’m surprised that Kai doesn’t get himself lost in his own house.”

“Well, I’m sure he spent years wandering around his house, I doubt that he could get lost anymore,” Rei said, looking around too. The five of them (Rei, Tyson, Max, Kenny, and Zeo) had just arrived at Kai’s place, an on duty watchmen taking them to the main house, where a butler was stationed at the front door to great the five upon their arrival. The butler had told them to wait while he got a maid to show them to the pallor, Kai was expecting them to wait in until he came down.

“Dude, I can’t wait for this maid to get here so we can see more of the house,” Tyson said. “I wonder just how many maids and butlers are working here anyway.”

“Currently, there are sixteen maids, four chefs, and three butlers that are on staff here inside the house,” a new voice replied to Tyson’s question. The five boys turned their attention to a young woman walking up. The woman has long blonde hair done in two long curls and tied back by two dark red ribbons. Her piercing green eyes swept over the five, before she bowed low to them.

“And you are?” Rei questioned.

“My name is Arumi Takatori. Master Kai told me to take you to the pallor he wishes you to await his presence in,” the maid said. “I would also like to extend my master’s appreciation for accepting his invitation. Making a motion for them to follow her, Arumi began walking out of the entrance, down a long hallway.

“Well, it’s a free meal, so I guess that he’s welcome,” Tyson said, putting his hands behind his head, as the other three members of the Bladebreakers’ squad gave him a reprimanding glance. “What? Why are you staring at me like that?”

“You must be Master Tyson,” Arumi chuckled softly. “Master Kai has often spoken of you and your ways.”

“What ways?” Tyson demanded. “If he’s been telling you—”

“Do not worry Master Tyson, they have all been pleasant things,” she quickly said, another laugh bubbling up. “Master Kai is not as horrendous to deal with as you may think of him.”

“That I would have to see for myself,” Tyson countered.

Silence momentarily filled the air as the young woman led the five boys down the corridor, about two or three maids were spotted in passing, dusting off pictures on the walls. Some were pictures of Kai when he was younger and of other members of the Hiwatari family, the only one that anyone of them recognized was a larger portrait of Voltaire close to the middle of the hallway.

“Wow, I didn’t know there were so many people,” Max gaped.

“The Hiwatari family is spread out across the whole,” Arumi said, turning a corner down another hallway. “Many members of the family still live in different parts of Russia, one or two live in America, I think maybe a few cousins live in parts of Europe.”

“What about here in Japan?” Rei questioned.

“Master Kai and Master Voltaire are the only ones that live here in Japan, that I know of anyway,” Arumi said.

“What about Kai’s parents? Are they still around somewhere?” Tyson questioned.

“I can not honestly tell you. I have only met Master Kai’s parents once, and that was when I was still small and my mother worked here. Back then, I worked in the kitchen with the chefs. I suppose they travel on business much like Master Voltaire does,” Arumi replied.

“Well, that explains his cranky nature,” Tyson whispered to the other boys.

“Shut up Tyson,” Rei sighed.

“What? Don’t you think that you’d be cranky too if your parents were never around and left you in this gargantuan house with a creepy old grandfather?” Tyson whispered back.

“You’re hopeless,” Max giggled softly.

“Agreement on my end,” Zeo smiled, though in a way he could kind of get what Tyson was staying, not about being cranky with never having parents around and being left in a huge house with nothing but maids, more like lonely. Kai must have always felt misplaced never having anyone to talk to, or teach him things besides school work. Then again, if he remembered correctly, the others had told him that Kai spent some time as a kid in an abbey in Russia, so…maybe it was a little of half and half.

“Arumi, how long have you been here?” Rei asked, trying to ignore Tyson. The more he saw of the house, the more he got the impression that Kai never had anyone around to talk to, or even have a good time with. Maybe his whole persona with being an “ice prince” as Tyson put it at times was just a mask of loneliness and isolation he suffered through growing up. Maybe he could break through the ice and reach Kai that night.

“I’ve been here, since I was around six, my mother worked for Master Voltaire for nearly forty years in fact,” Arumi said. “She lived in Russia, working for Master Voltaire before moving to Japan when he decided to make the transition from there.”

“You’ve been here since you were six? That makes you how old?” Zeo inquired.

“I just recently turned twenty-three,” Arumi replied as a door to her right came into sight. Pushing it open, the woman bowed once more to the five. “This is the pallor that Master Kai wished you to wait in. If you need anything, there is a buzzer by the wall that you can push, a maid should be right down afterwards to assist you with whatever it is you need.”

“Thank you Arumi,” Rei said.

“I shall take my leave now,” the woman said, leaving the room.

“Kai’s family is really well off,” Max said, looking around the pallor room where two long sofas rested near the wall to wall bookshelf on the southern wall. In the center of the room was a billiards table; on the left of the table was a painting of some 16th century Gothic piece featuring gargoyles, women, and knights. To the right of the painting was another bookshelf, a lamp, and what appeared to be an out of used pinball machine. Beside the pinball machine, with the seat included was a pachinko machine. “Very well off.”

“How the hell is rich enough to have a pachinko machine just sitting in their house legally like this?” Tyson blinked.

“Obviously Kai’s family,” Kenny said for the first time since they got there. Unlike most times, the computer whiz didn\'t have his laptop with him. Much like Rei and Max got rid of Tyson\'s hat and coat for the night, they did pretty much the same with Kenny, saying he was going to have a good time and not try to update anyone\'s beyblade that night. “From my estimates, I’d say his family was a zaibatsu here in Japan.”

“Kind of wouldn’t surprise me,” Max nodded, walking over to the pinball machine and running a hand over it. “It’s not even dusty guess the maids clean everything around here.”

“The maids clean twice a day, once in the morning and once in the evenings,” Kai’s voice rose up from where he stood in the doorway, watching the five. The older teen was dressed in a pair of low rise tight black jean pants, with a satin, button up dress shirt. Unlike most other times, the white scarf which graced Kai’s neck was missing, along with the blue face paint.

“Good evening Kai,” Rei said, staring his team captain down with interest. Despite the gothic sort of thing going on, he definitely was hot as hell, the darkness of the clothing bringing out the flaring crimson mixed with auburn flecks. Especially without the face paint which usually gave him an intimidating definition.

“Good evening Rei,” Kai said, making eye contact with the neko-jin, seeing levels of lust beginning to darken his eyes, before looking at the other boys in the room. “Max, Tyson, Kenny, Zeo, thank you all for coming.”

“Thanks for inviting all of us.” This time it was Zeo who spoke up; he noticed that Kai’s eyes weren’t on him. Could Kai really be as interested in him as Kai seemed no more than days ago, when he confessed that Zeo was the only person that he wanted to be with? Maybe it was just a moment of want and he was now no longer interested in Zeo.

“It was no problem at all,” Kai smiled briefly at Zeo before shifting his eyes back to Rei. “I’m glad that each one of you decided to come. This gives me a chance to get to know you each on a deeper level than what I’ve been trying.”

“Well, finally,” Tyson said, placing his hands on his hips. “We were wondering when you were going to come around.”

“You were?” Kai chuckled softly.

“And he’s laughing, the world is going to come to an end,” Tyson gasped.

“The world only ends if you no longer act like a black hole, Tyson,” Kai said simply, turning his back to Tyson who was steadily growing red each second that passed. “The maids are setting up the tables we should head for the dining room. And try to contain yourself and not drool over everything, Tyson.”

“You…you…” Tyson started.

“Easy Tyson, you know, if you hadn’t started with him, I don’t think Kai would have said a word,” Max grinned at Tyson’s bright red face. “Come on, he was trying to be nice after all.”

“He’s nothing but a devil,” Tyson huffed loud enough for Kai to hear him. Dark blue eyes met the glint of mischief in a pair of crimson eyes, but the dual haired older said nothing as he walked out the room, Rei, Zeo, and Kenny following behind him. “And he has the eyes of Satan himself.”

“Take it easy, I wouldn’t go that far,” Max laughed. “Come on, I’m sure that by the end of the night you’ll change your mind about Kai, and you’ll be the best of friends.”

“Never!” Tyson shook his head, following Max out of the pallor room they were in.

Kai pretended not to pay attention to Max or Tyson while leading the boys down another long hallway towards the dining room. But he picked up every word that the moron said, smirking inwardly at the remarks. It was true, Kai was a devil in disguise, and if not a devil, the devil himself. He wondered if he looked in the mirror, would his eyes billow like the very fires of hell that seemed to spurn on his motives that night.

Meanwhile, as Kai led his team and his angel down towards the dining hall, the maids which were finishing setting up the meal, stared over what appeared to be maybe forty covered dishes, the long table set out for only six spaces. Many of the younger ones wondered what exactly all that food were for, while only one had heard rumors of a certain storm dragon wielder’s reputation for being a bottomless pit. Her green eyes looked over the set table, remembering exactly what her master had told her.

He would sit at the head of the table, like he always did whenever his grandfather was not at the estate. The one with blue hair would sit on this right hand side, the one with black hair would sit to his left, the one with blonde hair to the blue haired one’s left, with the green haired one sitting on the black haired one’s right, and brunette to the bluenette’s right. Walking over to where the bluenette would sit, the woman took out a small plastic vial filled with a light blue powder and poured it inside the tall crystal drinking cup.

“Arumi, what are you doing?” one of the maids asked worriedly. \"Does Master Kai know that you\'re drugging one of their glasses?\"

“Of course you twit,” Arumi sneered. “Who do you think told me to do this in the first place?” The maid which first questioned her flinched at the tone. Next to their boss’s grandson, Arumi was a feared presence to deal with, not only was she head of all the maids in the house, but her obedience to the Hiwatari family was unshaken. She would do whatever it was Kai told her to do without hesitation or remorse.

“I’m sorry for questioning you,” the maid whispered.

“Stop sniveling and look lively,” Arumi said, pulling out another vial of the same substance, pouring it into the glass which Max would be drinking from. “Go get me the bottle of wine that Master Kai requested for the meal.”

“Yes ma’am,” another maid squeaked before running to the end of the table where a chilled bottle of red wine waited. Grabbing the bottle, the little chestnut haired maid ran back to Arumi, giving her the bottle. The blonde took the bottle, opening it, and beginning by pouring wine into the first two glasses which contained the blue powder which quickly dissolved in seconds before moving on to the other glasses.

“Is there anything else that we should be doing?” a young girl with short mint green hair asked of Arumi.

“Make sure that they each sit where Master Kai wants and don’t screw this up, or this will cost you your job, do I make myself clear?” Arumi threatened.

“Yes ma’am,” both girls chimed, just as Kai came into the dining room with his guests. Arumi made eye contact with the woman who smiled with a short nod. Finishing her task, she stepped back with a short curtsy.

“Master Kai, the preparations have just been finished, so you may be seated at any time,” Arumi said. Shifting her eyes to the two girls standing near the table, she nodded towards them. “Renee, Anna, go seat Master Kai’s guests.”

“Yes ma’am,” the two girls said, moving from the table to guide each one of the boys to where they were suppose to be seated. Kai kept eye contact with the older woman until all his guests were seated, then he broke contact, studying each one before he took his place at the head of the table. The two girls then took their places by the covered dishes, waiting for either Arumi or Kai’s order to start the meal.

“Like all other times, you have done quite well with preparations,” Kai said with approval, his eyes secretly going to Max and Tyson’s glasses. “Everything is in order, like I want it?”

“Exactly like you want it Master Kai,” Arumi smiled.

“Good,” Kai smiled.

“You know I aim to please,” Arumi bowed low, covering the smile of deception which the five boys seated at the table knew nothing about. For what they didn’t know was that a web was slowly being wove, and that night would be the turning point to lives being changed forever.

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Rim: I’m losing my touch…I have no more inspiration for today. I guess this won’t get me killed so much. Just think it’s setting the stage for a longer and more devious chapter, the calm before the raging tsunami. All right, I should be back to this soon, maybe even this weekend once I regroup my thoughts. I hope everyone enjoys and sorry again for the long wait. *on hands and knees* Please don’t kill me!!!