Hi! This is Jasmine. My dear friend, Breathing In Shadows, pushed me to write this story which I've had in my head for a few years now. Please don't kill me for this. Updates will depend upon when my friend is able to get to a computer. Bear with me. I'll roll out chapters as fast as possible so when they are updated, you'll probably be reading several at a time. If you would like to e-mail me, go to Breathing In Shadow's profile. There will be a link (hopefully). Also, this is a Kai/Rei story. Sorry if this offends anyone. There will also be no character bashing. I like almost all the characters, though Rei and Kai are my favourite. I'll also be using a lot of British terms and spelling since that's what I grew up with. Don't get too confused. And I promise the next chapter will be longer. Ja ne!

Warnings: mention of rape, child molestation, and severe violence in mild quantities. Extremely mild yaoi content.

Disclaimer: If I owned Beyblade, Rei would have ditched Maria and gone after Kai long ago. Tyson and Hilary would have also been dating by the time she came into the show. So no, sadly I don't own it. I owe its being amazing to the creator whose name I am stupid enough not to know (tell me who that is, please).

Prologue

The rain continuously pelted against the window. Rei gazed out, not really looking at anything in particular. After all, there was nothing outside that would have caught his attention in the first place.

'The day is getting closer', he thought. 'I wonder, will I have to take over this year, or can I postpone it for a little longer?'

Every year, Rei dreaded this day, for on the 13th of May, fifteen years ago, the wold as he knew it, was destroyed. That day, is the day that his entire family was murdered. It was also the day that his childhood came to a sudden end.

Sighing, he got up and went to bed, never noticing the garnet eyes that followed him inquisitively.

Chapter1: Family Intro

After having been woken up to the screams of Tyson and Max as Kai gave them their wake up call, Rei had taken a quick shower suspecting that breakfast would be expected. With a dressing robe on and a towel on his head, he set to work.

Very soon, the smell of bacon, sausages, scrambled eggs, and French toast flooded the kitchen. Tyson and Max had already piled their plates high and were currently stuffing their faces. Now Rei was just waiting until their beloved captain came down. Speaking of which, just as he looked up, Kai had come down the stairs and taken the plate Rei had kept waiting for him with a mumbled "thanks". Now being free, he went upstairs to try and tame his hair.

Upon entering his room, Rei had locked the door and dressed. Since there was to be no training for a month on Mr. Dickinson's requests, he thought maybe he could go to China in a week. Now the only problem was telling the others without making them think they were going with him.

Today he chose to wear a traditional chinese shirt in red with silver lining and a pair of black, slightly baggy pants. The shirt had a roaring and pouncing tiger on it, with the main body of the tiger on the back and the head and one paw coming across the front. The pants clung to his hips, riding just low enough to allow a belly button piercing. From his thighs down, the pants looked extremely baggy and the shirt was enough to cover his piercing when he didn't raise his arms. He then set to work on his hair.

Brushing and binding it was always a problem and he had run out of cloth to bind it in, so a braid would have to do. That was, after all, how his mother wore her hair.

He could remember her clearly. Long, black silky hair that ran down her back and to her ankles. The colour and texture accentuated her high cheekbones and golden eyes. His sister, Raiko, had inherited their mother's looks, already having the same hair and eyes, and showing signs of later having the same lithe, yet speedy figure. Their baby brother had only been seven months old and his eye colour kept changing.

His elder brother had taken after their father. At sixteen, he had had broad shoulders and a strong build. Amber eyes and slightly coarse, black hair softened what would have been otherwise sharp and rough features. Rei hadn't been able to say his brother's name at his young age, so he had taken to calling him Papi. It had fit, considering he acted as more of a father figure when Rei's father had been absent. Maybe that had been his downfall. His father had been an older version of 'Papi', yet more regal in his behavior. There was never much of a difference between the two.

He finally broke out of his trance like state when alerted to the sound of glass crashing. Wincing, Rei pulled out a hair band and quickly braided his hair. He then pulled out a vast collection of body jewelry. The others had been shocked when he had come home a year ago with five new piercings in various, easy to see places, but they had quickly gotten over it.

He proceeded to put a silver hoop in the cartilage piercings in each ear, a blue sapphire stud in the middle piercing in his right ear, and a silver dangling skull in the lobe piercing in the same year. Then he chose a belly button piercing: a prowling tiger wrapped around a soaring phoenix. A black silk choker lined in silver was next, along with a thin silver bracelet on his left wrist. Then he put on just a bit of dark brown eyeliner.

Stepping back from the mirror, Rei paused to admire himself, silently questioning if Kai would like the effect. He had come to terms with the fact that he had fallen in love with his team captain two years ago. However, he had resolved to never make the first move or even show a sign of interest in fear of losing Kai's friendship.

Hearing another piece of glass crashing, Rei realized that Tala and Bryan must have arrived by now. Before leaving the room, he mustered up the patience needed to endure to knuckleheaded Russians who couldn't see that the other wanted them. Bracing himself for a long day, Rei exited the room.

All right. I already had this chapter going before I wrote the last Author's note. To those of you who are thinking of leaving off on this story, I've described what Rei's family looked like. I may not have flashbacks like other stories, but you'll still know what happened. I warned you that some people would be extremely OOC but I have my reasons. Something traumatic happened to Rei when he was little. If you want to find out what, then just have patience with me. I'll try to have a few more chapters done the next time this is updated. Ja!

Chapter 2: Finding Out

Glancing around the hallway, Rei immediately noted a few things. The first was that two of his favourite pieces of glass work had been shattered into millions. The second was that Tala, due to some freak accident, had ended up sprawled against Kai, who was underneath him. He felt an unpleasant pang in his heart as he took in their rather… compromising situation. Looking to Bryan, Rei suddenly felt the urge to laugh as Bryan's normally stoic expression had been replaced with a look that could only be described as a mixture between anger, loathing, and jealousy. He did laugh when he saw Tyson and Max huddled together in a corner of the hallway.

His sudden laughter snapped Kai and Tala out of their shock. Quickly, they scrambled up, sputtering obscenities in Russian at each other. Tala then turned on Rei and snapped at him.

"What the fuck are you laughing at huh? You're not even good enough to fucking look at me you whore!"

That effectively made Rei shut up. He was about to reply when the phone rang. Kai, who had gone downstairs when Tala had rounded on Rei, answered the phone.

"You're looking for Rei Kon?"

"Yes sir, I'm calling to confirm his reservations for an aisle seat on one of our planes due for China within the next few weeks."

Everyone had come downstairs by now. Kai trailed his eyes on Rei, who was looking at the floor as if he had found the love of his life. "He's right here. I'll give him the phone."

Rei burst into a stream of angry Chinese as soon as he got hold of the phone. Sighing, he turned around, only to jump back into the table, startled by Kai's close proximity. He finished his conversation and put the phone down.

"What's going on?" asked Tyson. Max was frightened by Kai's expression, Tala looked bewildered, but still annoyed, and Bryan had gone back to being stoic.

"When were you going to tell us?" Kai ignored Tyson completely and ground out his question.

"I… I was trying to find the right time." Tala decided to question them.

"What's going on you guys?"

"… Apparently…Rei is going back to China in a few weeks and didn't bother to tell us."

"It's not like it's any of your business," Rei snapped.

"You're right, it isn't. But last time you went there you joined the White Tigers!"

"And you joined the Demolition Boys! … Besides," he added quietly, "it's my duty, I have to go back!" He was getting louder now. "If I don't go back, I'll be turning my back on my family, my clan!" He sighed. "I'm going for a walk. Cook for yourselves."