Hey! In between writing other stories I've been breaking it up by writing some one-shots that I've had ideas for. This is one of them. I am mayyyybe planning on making this a prequel to a story in the future. May happen, may not. Either way...this is either just a one shot or a lead in to a future story. I hope you like it :)
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The Broken Promise.
Kai sat bolt upright in his bed, breathing like he'd been sprinting. Beads of sweat on his brow. Panic darting through his body.
It happened again.
His breathing slowed as he realised he was safe in his bed and lay back down again, rubbing his hands over his eyes.
He'd had nightmares like this over the course of his life. But up until now they weren't very frequent and they'd just seemed like recurring bad dreams. No real meaning, he'd thought.
But after Russia, things changed.
The revelation that he had grown up in the abbey seemed to have unlocked Pandora's box, the suppressed memories waiting until he was asleep to manifest.
It had now been a few months since the Russian World Tournament. Since then, his life had turned upside down.
His grandfather and Boris were being held while investigations were going on. His home was off limits while it was being searched. He was staying at Tyson's along with the other members of the team for the time being.
But it wasn't just that.
He was plagued with nightmares almost every night. Sometimes they were awful, vivid, terrifying dreams. Images that burned in to his mind and haunted his waking hours as well. Other times he woke up terrified but couldn't remember what he'd dreamt. It didn't take him long to realise that they weren't just nightmares. They were memories. And not nice ones.
It had gotten to the point where he, Mr. Fearless, was turning in to a child afraid of the dark. He dreaded closing his eyes at night. He didn't know what was coming to get him.
So he decided to try and just not sleep. He took small naps during the night. Set his alarm every twenty minutes or so to wake him up before he could go in to a deep enough sleep to start dreaming...or remembering.
It worked to an extent for the first week. But after that, he felt the strain. As did the rest of his team.
He was snappier than ever. Angrier. His temper reached new peaks and appeared out of nowhere, and his teammates got the brunt of it. He was even jumpy. He felt himself flinching at sudden noises. His body was exhausted and he felt his brain turning to mush. He couldn't concentrate. The tiredness and the impact of the terrible memories of his life were taking their toll.
His training was also beginning to suffer. Which is something he couldn't allow. So he decided to sleep normally again, just let the demons come. It would stop eventually, right?
The next night was the same. Almost.
But this time, he didn't wake up scared. He woke up heartbroken.
"I promise you, my boy...I'll get you out of there."
As he sat up in his bed, breathing slowing again. He felt a rush of sadness and betrayal.
That's right...how had he not remembered that?
When he was a kid, the BBA and the police had been working together to try and bring Biovolt down. It was something they'd been trying to do for years, but they could never get close. They always wormed their way around anything they'd thrown at them...
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The seven year old was being lead down a long, bare corridor of a building he didn't know. Silent apart from the sound of their footsteps echoing down it. They arrived at a heavy door. There was a buzz and it opened. He was gently pushed in, and the heavy door clicked shut behind him.
He was scared. His grandfather and Boris had given him strict instructions as to what to say and how to answer questions. If he made even the slightest mistake, he dreaded to think what they'd do to him.
In the cold, grey room sat an old man.
The nervous little boy stood still as he saw an old man get up and walk towards him.
"Hello there. You must be Kai..." he said softly and kindly. Not a tone he was used to. He froze and stayed silent. The old man knelt down to him.
"My name is Stanley Dickinson...I run the BBA. Do you know what that is?"
Kai nodded.
Mr. Dickinson smiled. "I thought you might. I hear your an excellent young beyblader."
Kai just stared at him. This wasn't something Boris had prepared him for, so he kept his mouth shut. Maybe it was a trick.
Mr. Dickinson lead him to sit down.
"I want to ask you a few questions about Balkov Abbey. Don't be nervous, it's just a few simple questions. I'm sensing English isn't a problem for you?"
Kai tensed and nodded slowly.
"My, you are a clever boy." the old man praised.
Kai continued to stare warily at the man sat opposite him.
"Can you tell me how many students there are?" he asked, his voice still holding that soft, kind voice.
"...about 80." he answered quietly in his heavy Russian accent.
"And you all train every day?"
"Yes, sir."
"How many hours a day?"
"...five, sir." he lied.
The old man nodding, sensing it wasn't true.
"And do you enjoy it?"
Kai tensed again.
"...yes, sir..." he lied again.
"Are you treated well?"
"...yes, sir..." he said as his voice trembled uncontrollably.
"Is that right? So your instructors treat you well during training? You're given enough food? They look after you?"
"...yes, sir..."
Mr. Dickinson's voice was still soft, but seemed to get a little more forceful.
"...Tell me, is there anything you don't like about the Abbey?"
Kai shifted in his seat. He stayed quiet.
"Kai? You won't get in trouble if you tell me..." he urged gently.
The boy didn't move. Mr. Dickinson gave him a minute, give the poor, frightened boy some time...but he remained quiet.
The old man glanced at the clock above him and seemed anxious.
"Could I ask you to remove your shirt?" he asked suddenly.
"No!" Kai responded instantly, panicked. He held the bottom of his sweater and unconsciously stretched it down further. This was another thing he hadn't been prepared for. He knew he couldn't.
"It's all right, son. I won't hurt you. I just want to see..."
What could he do? He was trapped in a room with this man. Who knew what he would do to him if he refused. He couldn't fight him. He couldn't escape. It was hopeless. He had no choice but to obey.
He stood up slowly, feeling his legs wobbling in fear. His hands trembling, his lip quivering, his eyes brimming. He was going to be in so much trouble.
He slowly removed his sweater. Mr Dickinson also stood and once again knelt down to him, turning him around and taking in the bruises, cuts, what appeared to be whip marks covering the child's body and across his back. His suspicions had been correct.
"Oh, my boy...what are they doing to you in there...?" the old man asked, heart broken as he looked over the poor boy's deeply lacerated back.
The little boy broke. His skin had showed him the truth. It was all out there now.
He spun around to face the man's kind eyes.
"Please help me..." he whispered, begging. His desperate, terrified eyes threatening to spill over.
The old man eyes started to glisten.
"I can only help you if you tell me exactly what goes on in there..." he pleaded.
"I can't, they'll kill me..." he choked out, gulping air as he tried to stay calm.
"We've talked to some of the other boys, they'll never know it was you..."
"You don't understand! It won't matter! They'll get all of us!" the child cried frantically.
A voice came over the intercom of the interrogation room.
"Two minutes left, Mr. Dickinson."
The old man sighed.
"Kai, please, we don't have much time...tell me what you can and we can help you..."
The look in his eyes and his voice told Kai he could trust him. He'd never felt like he could trust anyone. Because up until now, he really couldn't.
His voice was quiet, not even a whisper, the old man had to lean in to hear him.
"We sleep in cells for six hours a night. We train fourteen hours a day. If we make a mistake, they punish us...sometimes they do even if we don't make a mistake. If we can't take it or lose matches more than three times they take us away..."
"Where do they take you?" the old man asked.
"I don't know..." the little boy answered honestly, his eyes starting to overflow, scared to think where, "but the ones who get taken away, we never see them again."
"What else?" the old man asked, desperate for any information.
"...they have a lab where they..." his voice trailed off. He couldn't bring himself to say.
"Where they what?" he asked desperately, knowing time was running out.
But it was too late.
"Time's up Mr. Dickinson. We're coming to open the door now." came the voice over the intercom.
Mr. Dickinson grabbed the boy by the shoulders. Devastated he had to send him back to that awful place.
"I promise you, my boy...I'll get you out of there."he said in a determined voice.
"...please hurry..." the child begged. The old man's heart broke more.
"As fast as I can...just hang in there, we're coming for you." the old man answered sincerely.
Kai put on his shirt quickly and hastily dried his eyes. He believed him.
The heavy door opened again and the officer from before stepped in. The little boy turned to look one more time at the kind old man before leaving the room. The officer lead him back out to his grandfather, who took him roughly by the arm, dragged him to the car and pushed him in. Taking him back to his prison.
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Kai's eyes brimmed at the memory. His heart heavy. Mr. Dickinson was the only person he'd ever looked up to. He cared for the old man, he thought he cared about him, too...he was the only adult he ever thought was on his side.
But it turned out it had all been a lie this whole time.
He'd promised him he'd come for him...but he never did.
He'd...left him there...
He'd later taken advantage of the fact he couldn't remember much about his past. Made him captain of the Bladebreakers just to get to Biovolt. He'd...used him.
Just like Biovolt had used him too...
He was just as bad as them.
The next day they had a meeting with Mr. Dickinson to discuss some details about the upcoming court case.
The others were in his office, waiting. Kai wasn't there. He was twenty minutes late.
"I can't believe he's late..." Tyson huffed, "he knew we were supposed to be here...this is more to do with him than us anyway..."
Mr. Dickinson chuckled slightly.
"You know what he's like."
"...Maybe so..." Ray started, "but I'm worried about him. He's been acting really strangely recently. I don't think he's sleeping...he seems...really on edge all the time."
As soon as he finished that sentence, the door opened. Kai walked in looking as stoic as always. Not a word to anyone and sat down.
"Oh! His royal highness finally decided to grace us with his presence! Don't you have something you want to say to Mr. Dickinson for making him wait?" Tyson scolded.
Kai's eyes opened. They were burning.
"Oh...I've got plenty I want to say..." he blurted out in an icy tone.
The others looked to him, taken aback. What was that supposed to mean? Even Mr. D looked puzzled, but let it slide for now.
"Well...you're all here now...so, boys, about the trial..."
He lay down the general idea of where and when things were going to happen. Not that much was known as yet. Evidence was still being collected. They had to sign some papers to say they would testify.
Mr. Dickinson looked to Kai.
"This will surely be the most difficult for you and the other Blitzkrieg boys, I'm sure...dragging up all kinds of bad memories..." he said sympathetically.
Kai glared maliciously and stayed silent. Once again, the old man and the others were taken aback.
"...but on a brighter note, boys..." he started again, trying his best to ignore Kai's hostility, "we also want to get your team back in action! Something to look forward to and focus on other than this awful trial. I wanted to give you an outline of the next world tour..."
"I'm gonna have to stop you right there, Stanley..." came Kai's cutting voice.
He stopped, they all looked to him.
Kai pulled out an envelope from his pocket, stood up and threw it down in front of the old man.
"I quit the team..." he announced abruptly before turning and storming out. Leaving them dumbstruck.
Mr. Dickinson soon took in his words and quickly got up, following the angry teen out. His teammates not far behind.
"Kai, wait just a moment! Let's talk about this..."
Kai stopped walking and turned. His eyes deadly.
"What's all this so suddenly? Is something the matter?"
Kai let out a hateful laugh.
"I dunno, you tell me...what could possibly be the matter with me?" Kai asked sarcastically.
"...Kai, I know things are hard for you right now-"
"Don't act like you care." Kai cut him off.
Mr. Dickinson frowned, he didn't understand.
Kai took a step towards him.
"I've started remembering things..." he said darkly.
The old man's frown turned to sympathy and concern.
"Oh, my boy...I can't even begin to imagine..."
"Hm. Yeh...I'm remembering all kinds of things...horrible things...but you know the worst thing that's come back to me?"
Mr. Dickinson shook his head, beginning to feel intimidated as the tall, angry boy stepped closer and closer to him until he was near enough squaring up to him.
"...it's that you left me there to rot." he growled out.
The old man and the rest of his team gasped. The other boys couldn't believe what they'd just heard. It couldn't be true...it was Mr. Dickinson...
"Kai..." the old man let out shakily. His eyes welling up. He knew exactly what he was referring to. "...you don't understand..."
"Don't even try!" Kai yelled at him, "...you promised you'd help me! You said you were coming for me!" the anger in his eyes flashed with hurt and his voice cracked slightly. He took a deep, jagged breath.
"I waited for you...you never came..." he strained out painfully as for the first time since he was a child, he poured out his heart.
A tear fell down the guilty old man's.
The team could only stand and watch in stunned silence.
"It's not what you think..." Mr. Dickinson's voice shook.
The team were shocked. Was it true?
"I know I promised you...it's haunted me all this time knowing I couldn't keep it...but believe me, I tried..."
"Don't lie to me!" Kai bellowed. He didn't want to hear it.
"I'm telling the truth..." he replied forcefully. "I can show you...it doesn't change that I broke my promise...but I want to prove to you that we didn't just abandon you..." he said desperately as he gestured for him to come back to his office.
Kai found his body forcing him to comply, despite his mind telling him not to.
Mr. Dickinson instructed the other boys to wait outside. They were left in the hall, bewildered.
He shut the door to his office. The two of them alone. The atmosphere tense.
Mr. Dickinson pulled a chair next to his at his desk and got him to sit by him at the computer. The younger did so, staring at the screen. Waiting to see what the old man would show him.
He clicked on to some folders before having to enter several passwords.
The files opened.
"...These files are all specifically records of our attempts to get you out." he said quietly. Guilt still present in his voice. "We had to give the hard copies as evidence, but we scanned them all."
A profile shot of Kai's young, innocent face appeared on top-left of the screen followed by copies of official documents, letters and forms.
As they clicked through, one thing kept appearing.
Big, red stamps that read the same thing.
"DENIED"
Mr. Dickinson gave Kai control of the computer. He read through several of them.
"Dear Mr. Dickinson,
At this time we are unable to act on your concerns regarding Kai Hiwatari..."
"...we do not have sufficient evidence at this time to proceed with the intervention of retrieving the child in question..."
"...legally we are not in a position to act..."
"...insufficient evidence to support claims of child abuse and neglect..."
The same kind of phrases showed up again and again...all meaning the same thing.
"We're not going to do shit about it."
He clicked through faster, barely reading them. Just looking at the words on paper some stranger had written that kept him from being saved.
"We tried everything we could. Went down every avenue we could think of...every time we got a little closer only to be shot down in the end..." Stanley began.
"Your grandfather's claws were in you too tightly. He wasn't going to give you up. You were the jewel in his master plan. He resisted everything we had, somehow he always got around us...We're certain he bribed or blackmailed the authorities...but again, we've no way to prove it...No matter what we did, he was always a step ahead and we couldn't get to you."
The screen went blurry as Kai's eyes welled up again. A mixture of emotions fighting each other.
Relief and comfort that someone had fought so hard to get him out. Sadness that they hadn't been able to. Anger at the corruption that kept him trapped there.
"It was the same thing for all the boys we tried to get out...we only managed to save a few boys who had only been there briefly. They had been reported missing by their parents and we had reason to believe they were in the abbey. They weren't orphans like the others. They had no choice but to release those cases once the parents had identified them. Boris claimed they had come to them of their own free will, lost runaways with nowhere to go...they spun the story that they had generously taken them in. We tried to track those boys for questioning and to try and make them come forward, but we could never find them again. They disappeared."
Kai listened. Silent tears falling down his face. He realised that it wasn't Mr. Dickinson that had let him down. It was the system...
There was quiet.
"...I'm sorry..." he said finally, barely above a whisper.
Mr. Dickinson put a hand on his shoulder.
"I'm the one who is sorry ...I made an enormous promise and I broke it...I can't begin to imagine what hurt I caused you, I understand if you're unable to forgive me..."
Kai turned to meet the old man's guilt ridden eyes.
"There's nothing to forgive, sir...you tried to help me...I can't thank you enough..." his eyebrows furrowed as he fought a break down. Overwhelmed and tired of...everything about this whole horrible situation, he couldn't fight it. He put his head in his hands and let out a sob.
Mr. Dickinson's grip on his shoulder tightened.
"...They'll get what's coming to them..." he said, making another promise.
Kai let a sad laugh out as he sniffed and calmed his crying.
"You sure about that?" he asked bleakly. No one had ever managed to get them before.
He knew they wouldn't go down so easily.
The old man shook his head.
"No...but we have to have faith that justice will come in the end."
Kai laughed again, not feeling particularly faithful. Mr. Dickinson sighed, he also had his doubts.
"...well...that's for the trial to decide. We just have to hold on and do everything we can to stop them from weaselling out of what they deserve. In the mean time, I want you to take care of yourself. Ray said you've been acting oddly... You're going to need to let yourself lean on us a little through all this...it's not something you can go through alone. On that note, I refuse to accept your resignation from the team."
"...yes, sir." Kai said weakly. He didn't have it in him to argue for once. Wanting nothing more than for all this to be over, one way or another.
Time would tell. All he could do was wait.
They went home, his teammates clearly curious to know what had gone on, but as always he wasn't willing to share. They didn't press. They'd find everything out at the trial anyway, probably.
He lay in bed that night, doing what he did most nights recently...trying to remember things of his own free will rather than letting his dreams do it for him.
That ten minute talk with Mr. Dickinson all those years ago had been the start of a lot of things. It had changed him. It partly shaped him in to who he was.
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The seven year old returned to the abbey after his talk with Mr. Dickinson. He was immediately called in by Boris and Voltaire, asking about the details of their conversation.
He managed to lie well enough to save himself...for now. They must have thought he wouldn't be stupid enough to lie to them.
Satisfied, they sent him back to resume training.
It was hard. As it was every day. But in the back of his mind, he felt comforted knowing someone was coming to get him out of there...he just had to stick it out a little longer.
At the end of the day he lay on his hard, cold bed. The sound of the barred doors clanking shut. Would he come tonight? Could he come that quickly?
As he awoke the next morning, he realised not.
He knew it was unreasonable to expect him to bust him out that quickly. He could wait it out.
The day went on as always. Work. Sweat. Pain. Repeat.
The following night he wondered if this was the night.
It wasn't.
The next day, he was dragged to the lab. The one place he feared the most. He was beaten for struggling when they tried to strap him to the table.
Would tonight be the night?
No.
But he could wait it out...
The next week, he got cornered by a group of older students. They all knew he was the big boss' grandson. They resented him. This happened often. But not usually this serious.
He lay in bed that night with a broken nose and bruised ribs.
Would tonight be the night?
...No. But he could wait it out...
Weeks turned to months.
Every day agony in some way.
Would tonight be the night?
….No...
Eventually he stopped asking himself that question.
Waking up still in his cell every morning was beginning to chip away at his soul.
One night he lay in bed, numb. He knew.
No one was coming for him.
He was alone.
If he was going to survive this, he'd have to fight for himself.
He'd learned the hard way that he really couldn't trust anyone or open up to anyone, like he did with that man.
Never again.
If he was going to survive this, he'd have to fight for himself.
The next morning, his group were sent out in to the snow. This was survival training.
He came back that night shivering. His body aching from the hours spent in the bitter cold and the strain his small body had been put under that day.
Someone behind him pushed him down the stairs. More bruises.
Enough was enough.
This place was going to destroy him if he didn't do something. He needed to be stronger, tougher, numb himself on the inside, like they wanted him to. He needed to stop feeling sorry for himself and fight back. To bite and draw blood. To show no fear. He couldn't show anyone they'd got to him, no matter how much they hurt him.
He had an idea.
He snuck in to the equipment room and stole some of the camouflage paint they used during their survival or combat training. Hiding it in the band of his pants as he went back to his cell.
That night, while the abbey was deadly quiet, he tried painting various marks on his face. Using whatever he could find with a reflective surface and the cold moonlight to see.
He'd seen it somewhere. Tribes would paint their faces before going to battle to appear more intimidating. Which is just what he needed. Even if he didn't feel strong, he had to fake it.
The next morning, the guard's voices echoed down the hall as it was time for them all to wake up and get ready. They had five minutes.
But he was already ready. Waiting.
He stood in front of the bars, two blue fins on each cheek. Any remaining childish innocence he'd had in his eyes dead. His eyes instead ablaze with determination and bitterness.
There was a buzz and slowly, the metal bars slid open, releasing him in to another day in hell. He grit his teeth.
"All right..." he said to himself, "come at me..."
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Kai sighed and rubbed his heavy eyes. He was exhausted. He couldn't fight sleep much longer.
He dragged himself in to the bathroom, flipping the light on and heading to the sink.
He turned the water on to a lukewarm temperature and splashed his face, washing the paint off as he did every night.
He fumbled for a towel, his eyes closed to stop the water getting in. As he pressed the towel in to his face he opened his eyes and met his reflection. He ran his hand over his bare face.
Did he really need them any more? He wasn't that scared little kid desperate to prove himself any more...
Was he?
He turned and went to bed, letting his eyes fall and sleep took hold of him.
In the early hours of the next morning, he sat bolt upright in bed, panting heavily, sweating, frightened.
It happened again.
He got up, he wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep now anyway. He may as well get up and get some more training in.
He went to the bathroom, showering as he did every morning.
He got out and brushed his teeth at the sink.
He picked up his tube of paint and hesitated.
He put it back down.
He turned and left the bathroom, flicking the light off.
A few minutes later the light flicked on again. He picked the paint back up and opened it.
He wasn't quite ready yet.
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So...yeh...maybe I'll turn this in to something in the future or re-work this. I got some ideas for a story. For now, it's just a one shot.
I hope you enjoyed it!
Thanks for reading! :)