Hi there! Tiny slot of time allowed me to write this. Don't expect an update for a while, my classes are killing me. But I hope you like the first chapter! This fic is for AsterDragElf!

Disclaimer: I don't own them, just the idea and the OC that will appear eventually.

Read and Review!

It was just another day at Card Capital. The sun was shining and everyone was just hanging out in the shop. Gaillard, being the closest Quatre Knight to Aichi at the time, had decided to move to Japan and had also become a part of their tightly knit group. Rati and Neve had both gone back to their original countries. Aichi was currently fighting against Kai, with the rest of them watching the fight eagerly. It was a match-up between two amazing fighters that were both on a national level. Kai had just declared final turn. He started his turn with a draw and was about to re-ride his Perdition Emperor Dragon, Dragonic Overlord the Great, when his cell phone rang. He was confused, since everyone who had his number was there already, but picked it up quickly.

"Hello?" he asked. The other watched Kai's expression intently as the words coming out of the other end of the call were panicked and jumbled together. Kai had to wait slowly until the voice finally stopped talking and broke down sobbing. The sentence that followed afterwards had a huge impact on Kai, even though the others couldn't hear it. Kai's skin paled; turning it even paler than it normally was, and his cards fluttered to the floor. His fingers shook and his entire body was shivering. Frantically, the others heard the voice on the other end of the call frantically asking if Kai was still there.

"A-Ah..." the shaken brunet responded. Miwa watched on silently. It wasn't everyday that they saw Kai so shaken. He had even dropped his cards! Kai cared way too much about his deck to even think of ever dropping his cards. The call ended shortly after that and each one of them was curious as to what had made unshakeable Kai suddenly lose all colour.

"Who was it?" Naoki asked. Kai looked away and hid his teal eyes under the shadow of his bangs.

"My aunt," Kai said quietly. Miwa was about to ask about the call itself when Kai silently collected his cards and excused himself for the day. The gang's jaws dropped. Anyone who knew Kai Toshiki knew that he was never one to abandon a fight. While everyone was still frozen in shock, Miwa chased after the sullen brunet. He didn't notice however, a certain orange eyed cardfighter sneak out behind him.

"So what was the call about?" Miwa asked his withdrawn best friend. Kai kept quiet, more so than usual. Miwa continued to pester softly, until, with his voice cracking, Kai answered,

"My uncle is dead. He was murdered." Miwa drew back in shock. Well he hadn't been expecting that. Miwa was stuck in between offering his condolences and just giving his best friend a quiet hug of comfort. Before he could decide, Kai continued.

"He said he wanted to be buried here. So he could be next to my mom and dad... The funeral is tomorrow." Miwa patted him on the back silently. It was the only way he could comfort Kai without making him even more uncomfortable. He slung an arm around the brunet's shoulders.

"Come on… I'll walk home with you." Kai gave him a silent thank you and continued to walk home. Both of them never noticed Gaillard hiding behind a tree, listening to their conversation.

Gaillard walked solemnly back into Card Capital where the familiar buzz of excitement reached his ears. He was glad that people seemed to have forgotten about Kai's little episode. The bluenet sat down and began to lose himself in his thoughts. How had Kai's uncle died? The brunet himself hadn't given a cause of death. He looked up when Aichi came up to him, a concerned look marring his features.

"Is Kai-kun alright?" he asked the other bluenet. Gaillard sighed and simply shook his head. Aichi's frown deepened and his brow furrowed.

"What happened?" Gaillard quickly relayed everything that he had heard to the Royal Paladin player. Aichi looked down sadly.

"Poor Kai-kun. I wonder if there's anything we can do to cheer him up..." Gaillard held back a scoff. He knew that Kai wouldn't want them to treat him any differently even though his uncle had died. Besides, if they did, he would know that one of them listened in on his conversation with the blond. They could only wait until Kai chose to tell them himself.

It rained on the day of the funeral. Kai was dressed similarly to the day of his parents' funeral. He wore a black suit jacket, black slacks and a black tie, all in contrast with his stark white dress shirt. His uncle had requested his funeral to be open casket. Now Kai was cringing at his poor relative's mutilated body. Multiple stab wounds littered his upper torso, one right where his heart was. One of his legs was bent at an odd angle, which told Kai that he had tried to run but had failed. He felt the cold raindrops run down his back, giving him slight chills. But he didn't mind. He was too focused on his uncle's body. They had never seen eye to eye on lots of things, but he had been the one to take Kai in after his parents had died. The man was like his second father. And to see him lying in his casket now; cold, lifeless and so utterly dead, hurt him a little.

Kai was no stranger to pain. Between moving away at a young age to losing Ren and then Aichi to Psyqualia, he already knew that life was filled with ups and downs. But did the world really have to take away his family from him again? Hadn't he suffered enough? The funeral ended on a low note, the rain having grown harder. The brunet was offered a rain jacket from his aunt to stop the rain from soaking him, but he refused it. He liked the rain. And at least this time it would hide the tears running down his face.

That's it! Tell me how you like it!