MS: Attention attention! This little oneshot is an excerpt, or a bit of behind-the-scenes of a bigger story I'd planned on writing but don't believe I'll ever really get the chance to. There will probably be a few elements that you don't understand, but if you want me to enlighten you on something feel free to message or review.
This is approximately four years past G-Revolution, and follows the same plot-line as much of my drabbles fic 'Putting it Together' does. However this little number focuses more on another pairing I've always loved, Kai and Salima. :) They're just so precious together. Of course there are alludes to other canon pairings such as TysonxHilary, MariamxMax, KennyxEmily and RayxMariah too. Just give it a chance; if nothing else, you might get to enjoy some KaixSalima cuteness :)
Disclaimer: Beyblade, its elements and all its characters belongs to Takao Aoki. Basically, I don't own it; no matter how much I wish I did!
"It really is beautiful, isn't it?"
Kai looked over his shoulder as a voice pulled him from his thoughts. He murmured in agreement and looked back out at the view before them: a panorama of lights, water, and the hustle and bustle of the city of Hong Kong after night had fallen.
It seemed to be just as alive as Vegas at this hour.
Max slid the door shut behind him that gave access to the hotel balcony and joined Kai overlooking the city's fantastic view.
"I know we never really got the chance to enjoy it, but I'd missed Hong Kong. What little we saw of it in the tournament a few years ago anyways." He rested his elbows on the cool steel railing and sighed in contentment as the January air brushed over his freckled cheeks.
Again Kai made an indignant noise and nothing more.
Max drew in a tepid breath. He wanted so badly to ask Kai if he was okay, but then again he would probably end up with the same answer: 'Hn.'
But his captain made it too easy to see that there was something wrong.
Max wore his emotions openly, more honest than a hopeless romantic with his heart stapled to his sleeve and he knew that about himself. Tyson was an open book too; minus some grace and a whole lot of facial expression. Kenny tried to hide how he felt, but it usually came through in the color on his cheeks or the way he would stammer when put on the spot. Ray was cautious, and he usually picked just the right time to show you how he felt. He knew how to go about a delicate situation in the right way, and if he didn't want you to know what was up... You weren't going to. Until everything had happened, of course.
Hell Max had never seen Ray so frantic, so angry. He doubted any of them had.
But those emotions as fierce as the power Ray now held were gone, mostly; hidden in his arms like Mariah was... Inside, curled up on the couch. Max sorta had to give Ray and Mariah props; after what had happened to Mariam, he didn't want her out of bed for months. Let alone out in the main lobby with everyone else so soon.
The wind tugging at Kai's scarf caused an almost rude shuffle, a sound that made Max shake his head. Right... Kai.
Out of the corner of his blue eye he watched his team captain. Kai kept his gaze riveted on the scenic view before them, lights twinkling in the distance.
A lot of them had noticed his acting strange a day or so after they'd gotten Mariah back.
Kai was always quiet, but he'd been monumentously quiet after that. No bitching at Tyson, no whispered conversations to Salima, no egging on about training... Just nothing. More and more silence. Kai taking off on his own (more than he usually did), spending time on the roof, staring over his shoulder... Eventually, everyone began to notice.
Salima especially.
Max knew she was worried, but she wasn't speaking much to anyone about it. At least Mariam didn't know what was up. Had she and Kai had a fight...? Was something going on with her or him...?
No one had any idea... So no one asked.
It was so quiet out there, nothing but the low hum of life going on in the distance and a few chuckles or the occasional excited shout from behind them in the hotel room.
Man, Max had to know.
"Are you upset that Ray mastered it too, and you haven't yet...?"
A pair of crimson eyes shot out to the side at him.
"No."
"You can tell me if that's it Kai... I'm your teammate. I'm practically your brother at this point-"
"That's not it, Max."
...That wasn't it. Max's mind fumbled over the statement for a minute before he realized that, while he'd been wrong, Kai had just actually admitted something was up. Max looked up at the stars. The sky wasn't falling...
But then again, after everything they'd been through in the last few years, that probably wouldn't of shocked anyone.
Max waited for Kai to keep going. When he didn't, Max took a deep breath.
"Are you afraid that-"
The rice screen behind them slid open. "Max?"
The blonde turned his head at the sound of Mariam's voice and smiled. "Hey."
The blunette leaned against the side of the screen's hinge. "Everything okay?"
Kai could hear the smile in both of their voices.
"Yeah, it's fine. Kai and I were just talking."
"Oh?"
Another pair of feet came softly across the carpet. Kai knew who it was long before she joined Mariam at the doorway.
"I think I'd like to talk to Kai for awhile, if that's okay."
Max nodded his head. Looking back at Salima he knew that if anyone was going to get this stuff off Kai's chest... It was her. Max simply put a hand on Kai's shoulder, and then went back inside with his girlfriend and the others.
Salima sighed as the chilly breeze wrapped itself around her, taking her hair out and away from its perfect curls and scattering them over her shoulder in an array of flame-colored tendrils. She made sure the door had been shut behind Max and Mariam firmly, and then took Max's place at the railing beside her lover.
"I've been missing you for awhile."
"Hm. Just wanted some air."
Salima nodded, looking out at the view before them. Ray, Lee, Mariah, Kevin and Gary's homeland really was enchanting. Not that the BBA bladers hadn't found something to appreciate everywhere they visited. She let the thoughts carry her, remembering the day they'd spent on the banks of Sai Kung.
They thought Heart's Content was small... That place never had anything on the White Tigers' home town.
Her familiar silence, and the comfort that came with it made Kai's chest loosen. The banister wasn't so cold, and just for a second, everything was alright again. At least... With him. What had been plaguing him for days wore on her mind and he knew it. He could swear that she was the only other person on earth who didn't have to speak for him to know exactly what she was thinking, feeling.
It made him love her even more... Most times.
"How's Mariah doing now?"
Salima looked at him and shrugged her shoulders. "As good as can be expected... I think she feels safe, with all of us here. She and Ray are sitting on the couch, watching Garland and Kenny tweak some attack rings."
"Hmm..."
"What's wrong with you...?"
Kai raised an eyebrow.
He wasn't blind; he knew that she knew. But he hadn't expected her to voice her concern for him so evidently.
Salima conveyed her feelings for him in other ways... Sometimes it was with a soft giggle at the way he treated Tyson. A hip pressed to his own before their teams parted ways, or a simple squeeze of the hand before he had a match. She said so much, even though she barely said anything at all.
"It's nothing you need to be concerned about."
And that was the truth. She didn't need to be scared.
"Please tell me more than that." She blinked those lovely lavender irises up at him and he sighed.
"It's the truth; you don't need to be worried."
"Kai, please...?"
He closed his eyes. Once or twice he'd mused that Salima would be the type of person who made hiding things from them a challenge, but after Kai came clean to her about the abbey, the Russian blader hadn't figured he would need to hide anything else. Until this.
No, Salima didn't need to be frightened... Kai was scared enough for the both of them.
"Twice now. Twice this has happened."
She tilted her head. "Twice, what?"
"That people have gotten hurt. First Mariam, now Mariah."
Salima could see where this was going. 'Kai... I worry about you too, you know.'
It became silent between the two of them again, but this time it was not comfortable. This time Kai pictured the things that could've been running through her mind. He pictured his own face and his own choked voice as he told her about the abuse he suffered as a child. He pictured the way his face looked when he'd thought he'd seen Max gone forever. And he saw, only weeks ago, the way he must've gaped when Gary dragged himself, limping and broken in through the door.
All he saw, running through her mind was his weakness.
"I'm not going to let you get hurt."
"I'm... I'm not going to get hurt, Kai."
He turned his body to face her, one hand still bracing himself on the steel balcony railing. He suddenly felt more weightless than he'd ever been, more... Delicate, as if the slightest breeze could up and blow him away.
All of their failures... Kai felt them deep, deeply engraved into his bones.
And Salima felt it too.
Because just by looking at him, she could feel the pain that clenched at Kai's insides like a vice; a burning, hot sensation that made her feet feel dragging and without the ability to move them past this very point in time...
Kai ached for all of them.
More than he could ever say, Kai had done. He had hurt as Max hurt; he'd been joyous when Tyson was joyous (not that the Russian blader let the younger twerp know it). He had been fierce and ready to take on all comers when Ray needed him to be.
In a way, Kai was the strength in all of them.
And when they pained, whether it was his burden to carry or not... Kai carried the weight of the world.
She stepped forward and placed her hand on Kai's chest. The older man flinched, as if her touch burned him but Salima kept her palm there and felt the thrumming beat underneath her fingertips, through the faded fabric of Kai's shirt and deep down below his skin.
He was strong, but he was scared. Scared of what he had seen happen, all of his life. Salima had done her weeping for Kai's past; in fact, a large number of them had spent a decade's worth of crying over someone or other in their ragtag group of BBA defenders over the past few years but there was always one person who refused to shed a single tear. There was always that one individual who told Max to quit crying; things were looking up. Who held Ray steady when he nearly fell to the ground. Who had been strong for the brothers who suffered as he had, and who was mature enough to admit that he had made a mistake. He was the one who pushed Tyson, ever farther toward being the best beyblader, and the best man he could possibly be.
Salima drew herself closer to him until the cold air between them was pushed aside in favor of her warmth.
"I'm here, Kai. We're all here. And we're fine."
He pushed her hand from his chest.
"You're fine until you aren't. You're here... Until you're not."
All of a sudden that looseness of his chest felt tight and painful. He needed to get away. Kai felt a feeling creep up his spine that he hadn't felt since he'd told Salima about all the shit that happened to him in Russia.
If he couldn't protect them... Protect her...
He backed away from the person who had been his devoted source of comfort for nearly three years and looked back out at the Hong Kong skyline.
Kai stared out at the darkness of the night, as if he could dare whatever it was to come and face him. Whoever the next competitor was, the next asshat who wanted a piece of the BladeBreakers, the next evil son of a bitch who wanted to hurt his family...
Kai needed to face them. And he needed to win.
It was a frightening, dejected nuance of his soul that made even the wings of Black Dranzer look light.
Kai's fists clenched at his sides. He hated knowing there was so much shadow inside of him. So much... Need, to ravage and to avenge and to fight. No wonder he had been enthralled with Black Dranzer since he was a child... And no wonder he never wanted to speak to anyone. No wonder he had a hunger for the power Max, the Saint Shields and now Ray had tasted and clung to.
His silent self was the epitome of growing darkness.
He needed to get away for awhile-
Salima's fist twisted into the fabric of his shirt and be damned if her tiny form had the gall enough to hold him in place.
"I am here. I'm here Kai, and I always will be. No matter what comes at us, I..." Salima sucked in the cold air of the China night, a breath that made her small chest nearly heave. "...I'm willing to take whatever risks there are, to be with you."
Kai stared down at her with eyes that had scared many. ...That didn't work on her anymore, so she stood bravely before him and she waited. Just as Kai had dared their next opponent, Salima was daring him now.
'Say something.'
"I'm not going to change."
"I know that." Salima had known that for so long, all of them had. Kai was closer to them now than he had ever wanted to be... Maybe he was as close as he was capable of being. He laughed with them, played, battled, ate and he slept beside her and kissed her. But Kai's fear, his need to control and contain were never going to leave him.
Salima's pale fingers pulled him forward. Again, the warmth.
"Kai..." The words wouldn't come for a moment, and she swallowed down a monologue that even a theatre wouldn't have time for. "I'm here because you are who you are."
He shook his head. "There's a darkness-"
"It's not darkness Kai."
It was safety... And it was protection and it was a place they all belonged.
"I-"
The screen door was shoved to the side again.
"Hey guys, is everything alright?" Kenny poked his head out around the doorway, and Kai almost smirked. Privacy: Unheard of in the realm of professional beyblading.
The Chief had made a bit of a face at Salima's fist knotted in Kai's shirt, so the normally-shy girl blushed a little and dropped her hold on the BladeBreaker captain's clothing. "Yeah Kenny, it's alright... We're coming in now."
"Alright... A lot of the other teams are going back to their rooms so we'll hit the sack soon."
"Okay."
As Kenny stepped out of the way of the open screen, Emily behind him, Kai saw three other faces watching. Max with his head in Mariam's lap. Ray on the couch where he held Mariah in his arms. Tyson, stirring his steamed dim sum as Hilary prattled on about how he was 'such a pig, Tyson!'
Salima's sigh brought his attention back to her.
"Let's go back in then."
As she was about to step over the threshold, face downcast and resigned to leave this fight for another evening he caught her wrist and pulled her backward.
"I'll die if it means I keep you safe." Kai's words were uttered so softly that Salima barely heard them.
His feet were leaden, and heavy. He held her so close to his chest that for a moment it was hard to breathe. A few jaws on the inside dropped. Soon to be replaced by amused grins at their captain's obvious display of affection.
"I love you." Again his words were muffled by the red wisps of her hair.
Salima never answered.
But Kai did feel her lips move into a smile against his pec before she unwound herself from him and stepped back into the hotel lounge.
Every part of him.
MS: And that was that. :) If you have any interest in the plot of the major story-line I was thinking about when I wrote this and most of everything else I've posted lately, go take the poll at my profile and let me know you're interested! Otherwise, leave me a review or send me a PM. Thanks everyone, hope you enjoyed it!