This fic was written last year as a Xmas fic for last Christmas, unfortunately my computer died before Christmas and by the time I got around to fixing it it was February. So I waited another year... here's the fic, with minor edits. And screw the ages. Let's just say in the first flashback, Takao's 17 and Kai's 21. Don't sue me if the age gap is wrong.
Christmas is the season of giving, forgiving, and being with the people you love.
a tyka fic
by Trueangel
dedicated to blym
"So, did you have fun in the World Championships?"
"Well, we won, didn't we?"
"Alright, I'll get to the point. What I'm worried about is what you'll do until the next season begins, especially now that your grandfather is in jail."
"I can take care of myself."
"But where will you stay?"
"I'll find somewhere."
"Kai, I'd expect you to be more sensible than this."
There was a knock at the door.
"Come in."
A navy-haired boy entered.
"I'm sorry, Mr. Dickinson, I overheard you talking to Kai..."
"What do you want?" Kai snapped.
"I just wanted to tell you that you can stay at my house."
"I don't need anyone's charity."
"Contrary to that, Kai, I think it's a brilliant idea. You can even practice your beyblading skills together."
"Yeah, Kai. We could even get the others to train with us. You do know that Rei's moving here, don't you?"
"Well, that's settled, then. I'll talk to your grandfather about this, Takao. Kai, I know you hate this, but trust me. It's for your own good."
The 19-year-old bluenette sat in his car, driving down the deserted road. It had been three years. Three years since the Bladebreakers had won the World Championships. Since then, they had never taken part in the tournament together again in the same team. Largely because of him. Almost three years ago, he walked out of his house and never returned. The remaining three members had tried to get together after that, but they just couldn't reclaim their previous glory. Kai didn't want to claim any credit, but to some extent or another they had been affected by his disappearance. Especially their star player, Takao Kinomiya.
That damn Kinomiya. Who was he to toy with his feelings so much? He never wanted anyone's help, but Takao had jumped in. A month later, a tragedy happened – Takao's grandfather died in an accident. Takao's father was too busy at work to pay much attention to his son. As such, with Mr. Dickinson's persuasion, Kai was named as Takao's foster parent.
Takao stood in a corner distractedly as the pastor said a prayer for his grandfather. Mr. Kinomiya, Takao's father, was absent as he couldn't get away from his work – he was on the verge of a groundbreaking archaeological find, like he always was. In fact, the only people there besides Takao were Mr. Dickinson and his wife, Rei and the White Tigers, Max and his family, and Kai. No one else from Takao's family, and almost everybody else had somebody to be with.
Except Kai.
Kai walked over to Takao, and tentatively put a hand on the boy's shoulder. Takao looked up with bloodshot eyes.
"Kai?""It's... it's going to be alright." Kai was at a loss as to what to say or do. He was used to being a cold, heartless bastard.
"Kai, I'm all alone now..."
"Don't be stupid. Mr. Dickinson told me I'm going to be named as your father."
Suddenly, Takao lunged forward, put his arms around Kai, and sobbed uncontrollably into the bluenette's chest.
"Don't push your luck, Kinomiya."
Takao stepped back. "I- I'm sorry... I don't know what I'm doing..."
Kai let out a faint smile. "It's okay, you can cry to me. I'm supposed to be your father now, remember?"
And as such Kai tried being a father to Takao, knowing that Takao never really had a father. This was despite the fact that Kai himself never knew his father; the only family he knew was a maniacal grandfather. So Kai did everything he thought a father would do. He comforted Takao when he missed his grandfather. He took Takao out on holidays (Kai never wanted to use any money from his grandfather, but he had no choice if he wanted to take care of Takao). And he celebrated Takao's birthday.
"Sir, do you have a reservation?"
"Yes. Hiwatari, for 8 p.m."
The waitress led Kai and Takao to their table in the posh restaurant and handed each of them a menu. As they made their order, Takao couldn't help but notice that the waitress kept giving them weird glances.
"In case you're wondering, we aren't gay. He's my father," said Takao, grinning.
They finished ordering, and as the waitress walked away, Kai saw her looking back at him a few times, probably wondering about his age. He sighed.
"I wish you'd stop doing that."
Takao pretended to cry. "My father's scolding me..."
Kai sighed again.
"So, what's the occasion?" asked Takao. "What do you mean?" "I mean, why are you taking me out for dinner all of a sudden?" "Don't you remember?"
Takao thought for a moment, before shrugging his shoulders. "Nope."
For the third time in a few minutes, Kai sighed. "It's your 18th birthday."
"Oh yeah."
Kai took out a beautifully wrapped present from the shopping bag he was carrying and passed it to Takao. "Happy birthday."
Takao hastily unwrapped the gift. After staring at it for a while, he looked up at Kai with teary eyes.
"Kai... this is what I've always wanted! How did you know?"
Kai smiled. "I'm your father."
"Thanks, Kai."
Takao put on the small golden watch that Kai had given him, over three years ago. The black leather straps cut in the shape of Dragoon wrapped perfectly around his wrist. Apart from Dragoon itself, it was the thing he treasured most in the entire world. He only wore it on special occasions, to remind himself of Kai. At other times, he kept it in a locked drawer beside his bed.
Takao stood up from his bed and walked out of his room. On the dining table outside there was a large roasted turkey, Christmas pudding, and everything else for a Christmas dinner. The table was set for two people. Even though he was the only one eating, Takao would always set the table for two for every meal. He would imagine Kai was at the table, and he would talk to Kai about everything, while Kai listened and ate silently, just like they would do so many years ago.
Takao sat down in his chair and looked at the empty seat opposite him. Suddenly, he felt very lonely, just like he'd felt for more than two years now.
Takao got out of the shower, dripping wet, with the phone ringing in the background. He grabbed a white towel from the towel rack and wrapped it around his body. Takao walked over to the phone in his bedroom and picked it up.
"Hello?" "Is this Mr. Kinomiya's son?" "Yes. What is it?""I have some bad news. Your father..."
"What happened to him?" Takao had a worried tone in his voice.
"Your father died in a cave-in at an excavation site... Hello? Are you still there?" Takao stood still, silent. Kai had left him barely a month ago. Now his father…Takao dropped the phone as the towel fell from his body.
Suddenly, he felt very lonely.
Not feeling hungry, Takao stood up and walked over to the window. He watched as the white snow fell. It didn't usually snow here around Christmas. Most of the time, the temperature dropped, and that was it. In fact, the last time it snowed, it was the coldest Christmas Takao ever had.
Kai looked at the sumptuous spread of food before him. "Did you prepare all of this?""Yeah. Merry Christmas."
"I bought a bottle of wine a few days ago. I'll go get it from the kitchen."
Takao watched as Kai walked into the kitchen. "Oh no…""TAKAO!"
Takao stood up and went into the kitchen. "What is it?" he replied, trying to sound as innocent as possible.
"Look at the mess you've made! I want you to clean this up right now!"
Takao stared at Kai. Never, in his entire life, had he seen Kai flare up like this.
"No."
"What did you say?"
"No. You're not my father. You can't order me around like that. You're not really my father."
Kai found himself becoming caught up with the argument.
"Well, I'd never wanted to be your father in the first place!"
It didn't matter.
"Neither did I! It's all because you'd been staying with me, that's why Mr. Dickinson thought you'd be able to take care of me! I should never have offered to take you in!"
"I'd never wanted you to offer me any charity!"
It didn't matter.
Kai stormed out of the house. Through the window, Takao saw Kai get into his car and drive off, amidst the heavy blizzard and thick snow – a rare occurrence in this part of Japan. It was the coldest Christmas Takao could remember.
Kai had never returned since.
Sure, he was so angry that he had left there and then. But now, Kai realized none of the argument mattered. He might not have wanted to stay with Takao, he might not have wanted to be Takao's guardian, but it happened anyway. And whatever he wanted didn't matter, because it wasn't what he got.
Come to think of it, Kai couldn't remember why he used to dislike Takao so much. In those few months he had spent with Takao, Kai had realized how likable the younger boy was. Sure, Takao was difficult at times – like on that fateful Christmas Eve – but Takao wouldn't be Takao otherwise. He couldn't remember why he hadn't seen it earlier. Probably because he was too busy being an ice-cold bastard.
Kai realized he couldn't bear a grudge forever against his 'son', Takao. He had been angry then, but that was that. It didn't mean he had to leave Takao forever. In fact, he shouldn't have even left Takao in the first place. He was Kai. He was supposed to be the calm one, the one who would keep his cool even if the world were to end tomorrow. But somehow, Takao had gotten to him.
The time he spent with Takao had made him more emotional. He didn't know if that was a good or bad thing.
Takao walked away from the window and sat down on the sofa in front of the TV set, the dinner untouched. He switched on the television. There was a news program about a rare blizzard moving in.
The last time a blizzard came during Christmas, it brought Kai away with it.
Takao switched the channel to one with a cartoon showing – some Japanese anime about pirates. Hopefully, it wouldn't remind him of Kai as much. Slowly, Takao began to doze off, as the blizzard got worse outside, almost as bad as three years ago. But Takao didn't notice; he was unconscious already.
The doorbell jerked Takao out of his slumber.
Takao grumbled as he got of the couch. It was probably some salesman or something... they were getting more hardworking these days, in every negative aspect of he word. Max and Rei had left Japan a year ago to stay in America, for reasons that were supposed to be known only to them, but Takao could guess anyway – he'd seen and heard a bit more than he should. They probably wouldn't come all the way here to visit him, and they would have been stranded at the airport by the weather anyway. If he was lucky, there would be a bunch of kids outside singing a Christmas carol – but he couldn't imagine them out in this weather.
As he got closer to the door, Takao realized he was correct. He could hear someone singing outside. But the strange thing was, Takao could hear only one voice. And that voice was unusually familiar...
Takao opened the door.
"Merry Christmas, Takao."
"Kai! Wha–" Takao was too stunned to say anything.
"I'm sorry I didn't bring any presents. Do you have any food? I'm starving," Kai said, stepping into the house.
"Uh, yeah. I- I haven't eaten either." Takao's voice was still shaky.
Kai looked at the table arrangement. "It looks like you knew I was coming..." he said, smiling.
"Kai, do you know how much I've missed you? You left exactly three years ago. And now, out of the blue, you reappear, like nothing has happened."
"That's just it. Nothing should have happened. I... I'm sorry. I made a mistake then. I know this might sound ridiculous, but I hope you'll let me start again from where we stopped three years ago."
"Are you crazy?"
Kai turned away. "What was I thinking? It's been too long... the damage has been done."
"Kai, stop! I was just kidding. What I mean is, of course you can come back. I've got to apologize as well, for what I said then."
"Hmm... so, where did we stop?"
"We were going to have dinner. I have the food ready."
"And I've got a bottle of wine in the car."
Takao smiled. "Welcome home, Kai."
Takao walked out of the kitchen, with the last dish – Kai's favorite, baked rice – in his hand. He placed it on the table, and as he lit the tall candles on the table, he checked once more that the table was in order – plates, cutlery, and everything.
Takao turned around to look at the house. Knowing Kai, Takao had left out the balloons and party hats, but reluctantly so. Instead, there was soft music playing in the background. Takao walked over to the window, and saw Kai's car coming down the street. Making sure one last time that everything was ready, Takao switched off the lights, leaving only the warm, soft glow of the candlelight. He then walked to the door and opened it just as Kai was about to enter.
Kai instantly noticed the different atmosphere. "What is it, Takao?"
Takao revealed the present behind his back and passed it to Kai, then hugged him tightly like a little kid. "Happy birthday, Kai."
Kai smiled and ruffled Takao's navy hair. "Thanks, Takao."
END
To blym: I've known you for over two years now (you came in sometime before ACID in 2003, if I'm not wrong), but we've only started getting a lot closer since the beginning of '04. In memory of all the great times we've spent together over the years, I've written this fic for you, so do enjoy it, even if you aren't exactly a die-hard Beyblade fan. Oh, and the Japanese pirate anime reference is for you. Merry Christmas!