Just a little something I came up with while working in the garden. It's amazing what work and a little too much sun can do. There is a small amount of shonen ai toward the end.
Who is Kai Hiwatari?
Who is Kai Hiwatari?
That was the question that was on everyone's lips. Everywhere they went, people would look at him and whisper it, trying to figure out the passive young man who rarely spoke, seemingly closed off from the world.
It had been the main topic of many conversations amongst the Blade Breakers. Whenever the team captain was not around, they would huddle close, throwing theories around like the wind tossed about autumn leaves. Yet they had never come close to the truth, for what was the truth? It was something they would never know.
After every battle their competitors would approach them, asking them about the 'silent one' who looked to be wanting to be elsewhere. The one who stepped forward to offer advice when it was needed the most. The one who could play their emotions like an expert musician played their instrument, the result always something more perfect then could have possibly been imagined.
He could battle, they freely admitted that. He was always focused on the long term, on seeking perfection to his blading style. He was out not for the fortune and glory, but to prove himself to be the best, something they could tell him without him needing to battle at all.
"But who is he?" The reporters always asked. "Where did he come from? What is he really like outside the stadium?"
Questions they could never answer. Who was Kai Hiwatari? Nobody really knew. He was a shroud of mystery, his past lost in the shadows he himself chose to linger in. Of his childhood he rarely spoke, of hobbies and friendships there had not been an utterance. He was locked away so tightly that no locksmith would ever be able to break through.
He wasn't a team player, he had told them that. He wanted to work alone, only remaining with them and battling when he had to so that he could move one step closer to defending his title as world champion. He didn't care if they were ill, when they were hungry, or even if they died, just so long as they showed up for their matches and cut through their opponents. Winning was everything to him.
Revenge was the only emotion he ever showed. Revenge and the iron will of determination that he fell back on in the heat of the fight. He was a warrior, one who would never cry in defeat, nor laugh in triumph. A grunt was always answer enough, a glare speaking more then words. There was no need for expression, crimson eyes almost always shut, closing off the window to his soul. That was one place that no one could ever enter.
"But who is Kai Hiwatari," Lee of the White Tigers had once asked them. "Doesn't he care about anyone?"
Care about anyone? Was it possible for Kai Hiwatari to ever find the place for anyone within his heart? His heart was as closed off from them as his soul, a place he never let anyone enter. Was it fear that drove him to this, an experience of loss that shut away his emotions as well? That was yet another thing they would never know. To bring up the past, they had discovered, was a surefire way of making him go away. It was something he would never discuss, and they had accepted this. Some things are better left alone.
"But who is he?" Emily of the All Starz asked as they said their goodbyes, Kai already strolling into the distance. "What motivates him? What keeps him away?"
Victory was his motivation, determination his strength, friendship a weakness. To smile was a failure, to speak kindly a sin. You kept your distance unless you wished to take your life in your own hands. Though not a neko-jin, his fangs were still sharp, the fire in his eyes so hot it could burn you, maim you. Yes, leave him be.
But who was he? It was something that could never truly be answered. He was the mystery, he was the shadows. The determination, the remoteness, the desire to be alone: these were all things that made up the warrior, they were who he was.
Ray smiled faintly, looking down at the teen curled up against his chest, lost in the innocence of sleep. Kai was Kai, and he wouldn't have him any other way.
Yes, I know it's short. This was actually inspired by discussion on KaixReiML over a story they didn't like involving picking Ray apart. This is a stand-alone vignette, so there won't be any follow up. Please feel free to tell me what you think.