~Tomorrow was Last Thursday


Thursdays were the best time of the week. They used to be practice days, but since the team had been disbanded, there had been no more practices. Thursdays were now his to do with what he liked. Other days, there was the usual flurry of activity; practicing, though less than he liked nowadays, and various other insignificant, normal little things that plagued the recently appointed vice-president of Biovolt to no end.

Every Thursday, though, he would be "out of contact". His phone rang in an empty house. His cell phone was left to charge, dead to the world. Most of all, the continuous television coverage was out of reach; out of sight, out of mind. With such a mentality, it was no wonder Thursdays were when Kai was at his most relaxed.

Sometimes, he went "home", wherever and whenever to his whim.

Other times, he sipped a glass of wine in Wyatt Smithwright's back yard.

Wyatt raised his brown eyes from the depths of his glass to the imperturbable figure a little ways away, enveloped in the shadow of his stooping aspen. A glass of wine glinted in one hand; the rim brushing parted lips, the glass still almost full. Locks of shifting tide dipped almost into the liquid, like an artist's paintbrush hovering over the palette, faded with the promise of colors to come. Kai had always seemed to melt into the shadows; his pale coloring and deeply dyed clothing lent themselves naturally to such a tendency. That is, when he wasn't dealing with business matters. There he loomed, imposing, no matter what he wore or where he stood. It was a gift; like iridescent feathers, shifting as wings unfolded.

"So… what are you going to do now?" His voice was serious as it was when they met in business meetings, even though he would have liked to be lighthearted at a time like this. He had never wished more to have such a skill, to dash the tension from the air with a word, a gesture. But no; that was Tyson's domain, not his.

Eyes climbed smoothly to meet his; a flash of rich autumn in springtime. Somewhere in the sky, a bird sang. "Nothing."

"Why?"

Why… The one question he had never dared ask; Wyatt wasn't even sure he wanted to know. But something in the reclusive figure under the tree tugged the words from his heart.

"There is nothing here for me. Nothing back there. I come here for no one. I return to no one. There is no reason to go anywhere else." Even as the words dropped from his mouth like stones in the midst of the peaceful blue morning, Kai found himself remembering other Thursdays. The Thursdays before the team disbanded, the birds in trees with other names. The scent of the grass in another world…

They lay and contemplated the clouds. Lying there, he could feel the weight of gravity – his own weight – anchoring him to the earth like an anvil. An absolute. There was no use trying to escape, and he felt his body get heavier.

"Kai." Something intruded on his view of the clouds. A vision. A blinding vision of a sun you could hold in your hand and rivers of night coursing down to smother him in their silky embrace. A warm, inquisitive finger reaching down to poke at his nose; he sighed.

"What now?" His eyes were closed now, shutting out the world.

"Silly," came the gentle, laughing voice, speaking over the boisterous little gusts of wind. Not always laughing, but forever gentle. "We've been here for two hours already." A smile slipped across the horizon. "If I didn't know better, I'd say the great Kai Hiwatari had grown complacent."

A growl. "Shut up." The autumn eyes refused to open.

The other huffed. "Fine. I thought I'd take a day off to spend some quality time with my Kai, but you sure seem to be enjoying yourself sleeping the day away!" A pink tinge crept across dark cheeks and he hastened to roll away – or began to. A warm, firm grip closed around his chin, rough fingers catching his cheeks.

"Who's silly now?" There was no change in tone, but dark eyes were open – and amusement glimmered in their depths.

It was a simple matter to bring Rei back to his side.

It was even simpler to swathe himself in night altogether, and gladly forget there ever shone a sun other than this one – the one he held so carefully in both hands.

"There is no reason to go anywhere else," he repeated as though still trapped in the dream.

Wyatt was not looking over to the tree any more; he found infinitely more comfort in his wine. "I see," he breathed through a veil of liquor. There was nothing more to say.

His visitor came over silently to place his glass on the very edge of the metal-wrought table. Wyatt wasn't particularly rich; he had a fortune and a pleasant country home, but nothing more. Kai paused in turning away, and Wyatt almost, almost said something. But he didn't.

He only wished, and watched as Kai turned and left in a quiet rush of swirling air and scarf.

They had something in common, Kai and he.

-

A/N: A TyKa fanatic writing Kai/Rei? Dear God, help us please. The world tilts and smashes. Still not decided on whether this will be a one-shot or not…