A/N: Another new story. My OCs won't be in this chapter, but they'll come a bit later if you want me to continue. It will be a Kai/OC, but it might be a while before things really get going between the two.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything from beyblade, only my own characters.
A New Life
Chapter One
Under the bridge, a large cardboard box lay on its side, surrounded by numerous unwanted items such as old sofas and televisions. The box itself was tucked securely between these for extra shelter.
Two hands wearing black fingerless gloves reached out and pulled the cardboard flaps to, to protect the occupant from the ferocious winds outside.
Inside the box, the occupant had curled up in a ball, arms around his body. He was covered by the thinnest of sheets that had obviously seen better days.
He shivered once again, and cursed. His body was slowly turning numb, the skin stretched over bones with little in between. It was no match for the cold seeping into the box, despite the plastic lining he had managed to attach to the inside - so much for it being insulated.
He curled himself tighter on a ball. He would pray that he would survive the night, but he wasn't sure he wanted to. He didn't have much to live for.
So okay, there were his friends, but were they actually being sincere when they said they were his friends, or were they just saying that so he didn't feel bad that he had no-one to care about him?
No mother…
No father…
No brothers or sisters…
No aunts…
No uncles…
No cousins…
No nieces or nephew…
No grandmothers…
…Only his bitbeast and a deranged grandfather who certainly didn't care about him, unless it was for his own personal gain.
He would have liked a family. He thought. A large one, one that was hectic, and annoying and overwhelming at times, but one where he would have felt secure in the knowledge that he was loved, and always would be.
A mother to surround you with love and comfort;
A father who loved you, supported you, and was proud of you;
Aunts to pinch your cheeks and say how much you've grown, uncles saying the same thing while slapping your back;
Brothers and sisters, both older and younger, who would annoy you and try to make you do their chores;
Cousins asking favours from you all the time;
Nieces and nephews running around your legs to trip you up;
Grandmothers who smelt of old lady perfume and baked cookies;
Proper grandfathers who would take you fishing and teach you to treat women like ladies;
And friends you could tell anything and who would help you through your problems – friends who were an extension of the family.
He thought back to the people who said were his friends again.
So his friends might have liked him, but did they love him like a brother, like they did each other?
If they had, they had never shown it, adding to his insecurities.
He shivered again.
He knew he would die soon without help. Neither exposure to the elements nor starvation, were pleasant ways to go.
But he couldn't ask for help. He wouldn't. He couldn't go to them without placing them in danger. Even if they didn't care for him, he cared for them.
He made up his mind. He wouldn't die this night. He would pray. His hand went into his pocket, drawing out his beyblade. He opened his fist. The bit was still empty. She was still off somewhere, recovering from her last battle.
He didn't know who to pray to. He didn't really know any gods or saints. He didn't know any prayers, or even how to pray.
So he would pray to his bitbeast - to his phoenix.
He sneezed and tried to pull the blanket tighter.
If anyone could see this, they wouldn't believe it. He was sleeping in a cardboard box under a bridge, starving because he hadn't had anything to eat for the last few days, and now he was about to pray to an absent Dranzer for survival. No, they would never believe that 'the great Kai Hiwatari' had been reduced to this.