Woot! :3 Not only is this on time, but I quite honestly love this particular piece! :D These kinds of scene's are my absolute favorite to write when it comes to Miah and Kai; their relationship is very strongly founded on ill-feelings and fiery words, which sounds unhealthy, but it really only helped strengthen their bond with one another. ^^;
The two are quite a bit older here, and while I don't usually specify age (usually it's not needed), here I want it to be known that they are at least in their mid-to-late-twenties. Years have passed.
I do not own "Beyblade" or any affiliated characters; all such belong to Takao Aoki. :)
30 Day Drabble Challenge
Mad
"There is always some madness in love, but there is also always some reason in madness."
—Unknown
"Miah, I'm sorr—"
"Don't."
They stared at one another, him from the doorway and she from the window on the other side of the room. She was hugging her elbows, arms folded tightly under her breasts, as she regarded him with a cool golden gaze, but he knew it was a ruse to hold him at bay from identifying her true thoughts. Frustration bubbled inside of him; if she would just listen…
"I need to apolo—" he tried again, but she cut him off with a harsh, "I don't want to hear it, Kai!"
She really was angry, he realized, stepping away from the doorway and further into the room; she stayed where she was by the window, but he could tell from her stiffened body language that all she wanted to do was keep as much space as possible between them. Like always.
Well, he wasn't having it. Not now, not after all this time; not from her. He took a few more steps closer, his movements predatory; her eyes proved she understood the intent behind the grace, instinctively, and she unconsciously pressed her back against the windowsill in an attempt to keep distance without obviously showing her discomfort.
She shouldn't have bothered; they both knew the meaning behind both his, and her, movements.
"Don't." she whispered, but he was already in front of her, invading personal space, arms crossed over his chest, crimson gaze burning down at her. She glared up at him, fingers clenching against the windowsill, jaw tightening in agitation; he knew she hated having her personal space invaded, especially by him.
It didn't matter that at one time she'd freely invited him into it; after what had been done, after all the time that had passed, it seemed they were back to the beginning where she no longer welcomed him. He deserved it, really, but damn it, it still pissed him off because she wanted it, just like he did, but she was too proud to admit it—or so he figured.
"Back off, Hiwatari." She growled, golden eyes flashing animosity at him. He lifted a brow and replied simply, "No. I want you to listen to me."
She laughed then, a cold, humorless sound that caused the fine hairs on the back of his neck to rise.
"Listen to you? Are you fucking kidding me?" her laughter died on frowning lips as she glared at him. "Fuck you, Hiwatari. After all this time, all that's happened, you want me to listen to you? For what, an apology? Empty words that hold no merit after what you did." He winced, a movement she caught, understood, and took advantage of the feelings beneath.
"Yeah, the truth hurts, doesn't it? Of course, if you had just listened to me back then, we might not be in this situation right now," she growled, pushing away from the windowsill to shove at his chest; he stepped back a step or two, allowing her her rightful frustration as she continued heatedly, "The past can't be changed, though, so there's no point in having this conversation. Now get out of my way; I have more important things to do than discuss ancient history." She went to move by him but he grabbed her arm at the last second, spinning her around so that her back was pressed against the windowsill once more.
"Damn it, it is something we need to discuss, Kon." He growled at her, his own anger igniting. "After all this time, I'd expect you to be mad but—"
"Mad?" she cried in surprise, wrenching her arm from his grasp. "You expected me to be mad?" She stared at him a moment before chuckling, another humorless sound; then she stabbed him in the chest with her finger, gazing up at him with blazing gold eyes.
"Mad is what you feel when some asshole leaves a grocery-cart in an otherwise perfectly-suitable parking spot; mad is when you just got your nails done for a ridiculous price and immediately chip one not an hour later; mad is finding there's no chocolate in the house when you're PMSing." She shoved at his chest again, snarling at him, "No, Kai, expecting me to be mad after what was done is the understatement of the century; now, if you had expected me to go mad, that might have been more along the lines of reality."
Kai stared at her, stunned, though he wasn't sure why; surely somewhere in the depths of his mind, he had known this moment would come.
He supposed he just hadn't expected it to hurt so damn much.
"Do you even realize how exhausting it is, to hold on to such a potent rage? And that's what it's been, Kai; rage. I truly hated you, for a long time, after you left. And it was the probably the darkest time of my life, aside from my time at the Abbey—I held onto that hatred, clung to it, until it began reconstructing my very soul…and only then, once I found myself teetering at the brink of madness, was I able to step back and let go enough to move on—not forget, not forgive, but move on, for my sanity's sake." Taking a deep breath, she blew it out slowly, obviously struggling for the cool control she'd shown since he'd arrived, suddenly, a few days before. She closed her eyes, concentrating on breathing normally, slowly calming herself so that when she next spoke to him, it was in a more civil tone.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a son to attend to and dinner to cook. Please feel free to make yourself at home; I'll call when dinner is ready." And with that, she moved around him, carefully avoiding touching him, and walked out of the office, shutting the door quietly behind her.
Staring after her long after she'd left, he realized how much hated that. She had never held herself in check around him before; before, she would have made sure he knew the full extent of her anger and then stormed out, slamming the door to prove it. But, he supposed sullenly, this wasn't like before. It could never again be like before.
Turning his back on the door, he focused his crimson gaze out the window and onto the twinkling stars, contemplating sourly, 'Perhaps this is what madness feels like.'
I know its long; my bad. ^^; I got so into writing it that I kinda said, "screw word count restrictions!" and went on to make it into a one-shot, basically. A rather ambiguous one-shot... *evil laughter* It's meant to be that way; I want you readers interested in what happened between the two of them, the reason for Kai's leaving and Miah's anger; of course, if you're a close reader, you may be able to find a hint hidden in there somewhere. ;p
Besides, I'm rather notorious for cliff-hangers. ;p I can't help it. XD
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed! Thank you for reading! *hugs* R&R is absolutely appreciated and loved! :D
~Miah-Chan