Chapter 1 - Paranoid
Tala rubbed the bridge of his nose, closing his eyes. This is a nightmare.
Endless paper works. Piles, no scratch that, towers of papers was the perfect description.
He banged his head on the table hard, no matter how much he tried to fix this; he was just too tired to get the job done. How on earth did he end up on desk work?
No choice.
"Daddy", came a small voice. Tala looks up and saw his daughter peering through the door.
Now he now remembered why he was behind the desk.
Ignoring the papers, he went to her. "Hey, why aren't you asleep?" he asked gently, seeing as that his little girl was sleepily rubbing her eyes. He took her into his arms, brushing her red locks off her face. "I take it you had another nightmare?"
"No", Yulia answered, leaning into her father's chest. "Just came to check on you"
Tala smirked, "Daddy's fine" assuring her, "Is your brother awake?"
"No. He's still sleeping" she replied, stretching out in his arms. "Where's mommy?"
Tala frowned, looking at the clock across the room, "She'll be home before you know it."
"That's what you said last night. Mommy came home by the morning", she said looking at her father, and her eyes now wide open. Those green eyes stared right at him.
Tala frowned at her as well. "Well she came home anyway, quit complaining" he said, Yulia laughed at him. As usual, no matter how high and mighty he acted around his kids, it only seems to amuse them.
"Yulia you idiot!" came another small voice from the door, "Don't just go running off during bed hours!"
"You were snoring!" Yulia replied.
"I am not!" Yuriy retorted, entering the room, "You're disturbing dad"
"I am not!" she replied, sticking her tongue at him.
Tala smirked as the twins fight, watching them argue as always, allowing them to had this little sibling moment. His son Yuriy, was a spitting image of him. And he watches as how much of his expression waved out on the argument. Funny, he was never this talkative as a child. Let alone argue senselessly.
"Hmmp!" Yulia said, crossing her small arms in front of him. "What ever!" she said simply.
"Just because Dad is here, you're acting all cute and mighty!" Yuriy said, "I'm getting back to bed. You should too Yulia, Dad's busy anyway" he said, walking away from them
Tala listened to his son's words, somehow it pricked him slightly, he's son was right. He was busy, too busy to even know that both his children were growing up. And their little argument proved him right.
"Fine!" Yulia surrendered, "Put me down daddy."
Tala did, and once she touched the floor she scurried off, following the older twin, "Wait for me! The hallway is scary"
"Scaredy cat" Yuriy teased
"Am not!"
Tala watched them walk away and out of the room. Returning to his seat, he thought of what his son said. Somehow he couldn't help but wonder if the younger ivanov was starting to build a wall whenever he was around. But who could blame him… He wasn't exactly good at being a dad. He never too had a father figure to lookup to, let alone know what a father figure actually does.
Tala reflected back on their upbringing. Too be honest, he's been missing out a lot. Since they were babies, he only held them once or twice. The fear of hurting them was always was on his mind, he played with them once in a while until work took the better of him, and soon playtime was over. He was always present in their birthdays, physically yes… mentally no.
Funny, with all the enhanced power Boris had given him, he couldn't even find a spare time to even pay attention to them. Even his wife was feeling the neglecting behavior he was showing. But somehow, he's wife seems to understand… but for his kids, it wasn't that easy.
Great. Best Father ever.
Maybe if he had a father to look up to, he wouldn't have to let his all mighty self show much to his kids. Thank you Boris, you psychopath.
Tala lookup again once he heard the front door to their apartment open. His wife was home, glancing at the clock, it read 1am. She was early this time. Standing up he went to her…
Peering through the crack at the door, his wife had collapse on the small couch they own. Her arm was over her eyes; apparently she too was worn out. Who wouldn't be, both of them have taken two jobs just to accommodate what they needed. She was a teacher by day, circus clown by night. He on the other hand, works as a desk helper through weekdays, a beyblade trainer by the weekends. It was hard, but they were holding up pretty much so far.
Walking towards her, he too collapsed besides her.
"Rough day huh" he asked crossing his arms in front of him.
Julia frowned, removing her arm from her eyes, "You wouldn't believe the half of it"
"Try me" he smirked at her.
Julia laughed, "Don't get cocky on me mister. I take it you're not done with the paper works?" she teased back, he frowned at her.
"How I wish I could burn them" he mumbled, "I'm barely halfway through"
"You'll be over it before you know it" she encouraged, leaning on his shoulder. Tala wrap an arm around her, sighing slightly as he placed his head on hers. Funny how the cold beyblader was exceptionally allowing physical contact, he really had changed since then. Since meeting her, he was never the same again.
"Hey" he began, "Am I neglecting the kids too much?"
Julia frowned, looking up at him, "What do you mean?"
"It's Yuriy, somehow I'm starting to feel that... I don't know, maybe I'm just getting paranoid. Stress from work maybe" he said, "Never mind, forget I brought it up…"
Julia smiled, "Ohhh Is the big old ice man feeling cold from his children?" she teased him.
"I am not!" Tala barked, "I mean come on, not as if—Well It get's to you—I mean don't you feel that their starting to be distant -"
Julia laughed, ruffling his hair suddenly, "Oh Tala, see you're only human" , he pulled her hand away from him.
"Julia! I'm serious!"
"So am I! Haha!" she continued to laughed, "They're called emotions Tala. It's part of being a 'Dad'"
Tala frowned, "Yeah. I suck being one" he said looking down, releasing her hands.
"You don't actually. I mean look, when you're around Tyson or Kai or with the others, they all sense that 'Killing Vibe' you keep emitting. But when you're with the twins, no matter how cold or murderous you get, they just see right through you and laugh it off"
"Apparently Yuriy's starting to grow up" he said quietly, "He shows more emotions than I do. I can read him, but somehow I just don't know how to react to him. I wanted to reach out but.. but—"
"You're afraid you might hurt him?"
"Yes, I mean… I never actually had a father to begin with. Even if I do, Boris was never one. As if I'd teach my kids what he taught me. Remove my emotions, focus at the goal at hand, not to get out of line and failure was never an option for me. I don't want that Julia, they deserve something normal" he explained, Julia listened to every word he said. "I just think maybe I wasn't cut out to be a father?"
Julia smiled softly at him, no matter how much wall he put up, he was soft as a marshmallow inside, "Tala… look at me", he did, she always like that about him. He was a natural born leader, he listens after all the talk he gives out.
"If you're implying that you're a bad dad, you're not. It wasn't your fault you never had a father to begin with, not your fault you ended up in that abbey either. But look at you, getting all emotional and cute worrying about your kids" she teased again.
Tala frowned at her, "I just poured out my tiny ounce of pride, and you joke at me. You damn clown"
Julia laughed, "Just making sure you're my husband. Drama doesn't exactly suit you, you know" she teased, "Anyways, kidding aside… You're doing great, sure your busy an all but somehow you manage to at least give your tiny attention to them. You know you're not neglecting what they need, sure they won't understand now, but one day it will make sense to them why."
"Well you're not making sense" he said, confused at her.
Julia took his hands, "Just be you. You're doing fine, besides… I think I have a pretty good idea why Yuriy's acting all high and mighty as his father."
Tala raised an eyebrow at her, "Really?"
"Yuriy has your genes, both natural and enhanced. You may notice his change in attitude, but I see his physical changes. His speed, his intelligence… somehow even his competitiveness" she said, looking at him. Tala blinked at her.
"And your pointing this out why?"
"Wow for someone pretty intelligent as you, you can't see where I'm going at" she teased again, pinching his cheeks.
"Julia!"
"What I mean is, he's trying to be like you. Look at how, cold and mighty he is nowadays. He began being busy with his studies, mind you he's only a kinder garden pupil and he's reading subject books for graders. "
"He's trying to be me?" Tala asked confused, "I mean.. sure he's my kid but I want him to grow like a normal kid should be. Play around the house and outside; invite a friend over, and other normal kids' stuff. I mean I never had a proper childhood, Yuriy must be free to be who he wants to be"
"And he does Tala, Yuriy made this choice willingly. You should have seen him the other day, the poor little guy came up to me and ask about you. What you were like when you were a kid yourself, or why you act cold to others but soft to us. Why you never let your guard down regardless of where we are. He was so cute, just like his father"
Tala stared at her for a few moments, somehow he felt relieved for a little. He's son wasn't being cold at him because of his numerous neglects; he was trying to be him. Tala smiled at her slowly, leaning in he kissed his wife on the forehead.
"You're very welcome" she replied, "Come on, let get you to bed. Honestly you look like a zombie" she said pulling him towards her. "We both need a rest tonight"
"I love you, you know that" he said.
"Oh I pretty much do Tala" she said dragging him towards their room.
Tala smiled, "You go on ahead, I feel thirsty all of a sudden…", she nodded and went straight to their room. Tala dashed by the counter of their little kitchen, taking a glass by the cabinet.
"Hey Dad"
Tala turned around startled, "Yuriy?" he said, when did his son appear out of nowhere. He didn't sense him entering the room.
"Let's get this straight" Yuriy began, "I don't hate you Dad. I'm sorry if I made you feel like I was cold and distant" he explained, his tone of voice different from his usual. "I can never hate on you or Mom, I've seen what you guys have been sacrificing for me and Yulia. Every day and every night you guys come home from work tired, and exhausted so we thought that we should be giving you more time to recuperate. We maybe kids Dad but we're not that stupid. We're grateful for every small attention you give because we know you never neglected us. I overheard you and mom just a few minutes ago. You're not a bad father Dad."
Tala stared as his little son, how much maturity have he learn at this age?
"You see the real reason why I'm trying to be you is that…" he started to mumble something Tala didn't here.
"Come again?"
"I want to beat Hiwatari's son!" Yuriy said out loud, determination written all over his face.
Tala's sweat drop, he's still is a kid after that Tala laughed, placing a hand over his chest, "My son wants to beat Kai's son?"
Yuriy looked up at him confused, "Uh Dad? You're freaky"
Tala breath, "So this is what it's about" he said, placing the glass over the counter, he went to his son. "You think you have what it takes to beat Gou?" placing his hand over his son's hair and began raffling it, "Then go get him, show him a thing or two"
True, He and Kai were always competitive in every aspect. He just didn't expect that even their children were developing the same. Let alone their friendship as well.
"Even Makoto… I want to beat him as well"
Tala's sweat drop, his son even wanted to compete with Tyson's Kid, he smiled down at the toddler, "You will, you just need a little more than attitude to beat the both of them" he encouraged.
Yuriy nodded with full determination, "then maybe one day I'll get to compete in the tournament just like you and mom used to"
"World champ huh?" Tala said, "Not a bad idea for a squirt like you "he smirked at his son, "You maybe have a higher shot than I do. I will allow you to compete, under a strict condition though."
Yuroy lookup at his father, listening attentively.
"I want you to compete as you." Tala said simply, smiling down at him. "Just be you Yuriy."
Yuriy smirk at his father, Tala smiled even more. He was his son, and he reflected too much of it, "Bed. Now" Tala said, "you're mom's gonna kill me if you're not in bed at this hour"
"Right!' Yuriy replied, "Oh Dad…"
"Yeah?"
"Don't look now, but your fly is way further down than Australia" with that Yuriy left the kitchen.
Tala gapped at him… Never in his life did he imagine someone would throw those words at him. Tala smiled proudly. Maybe he wasn't a bad parent after all…just a paranoid one.
