Promises Are Forever.

Disclaimer: I don't own the characters.

Note: This story is entirely in Kai's POV.

I PROMISED.

When I was younger I vowed never to be sad, because to be sad was to be hurt and I never wanted to be hurt again.

I NEVER BROKE MY PROMISE.

I grew up and kept my distance from everyone, I became uncaring and cold. I didn't feel, I vented my emotions when I bladed because when I bladed I wasn't alone.

I WAS NEVER AFRAID.

My skills as a blader went unmatched, I was the best and I needed no one. When offered spots on teams I declined. I don't know why I accepted 'The Bladebreakers.'

IT WAS BECAUSE OF HIM.

My team was a bunch of no good rookies; their skills needed a lot of work. Tyson, Max, Rei. They were all immature.

THAT WASN'T TRUE.

Tyson, and Max were immature Rei just bothered me. All them did, but in different ways. I was jealous of Tyson because of what he had and I didn't, and I hated him because he didn't even realize it. Max was annoyingly upbeat and optimistic, I wanted to scream that everything wasn't all right, I wanted to crush his dreams and watch his face fault. And more than anything I wanted Rei to disappear.

I WAS LYING TO MYSELF.

I wanted Rei to disappear so I wouldn't have to feel the way I do around him. It wasn't love, not yet but the idea of me liking someone, having a crush (In the smallest sense of the word) on someone was more than unwanted. The more I thought about it, about him, the more I denied myself.

I REGRET NOT FEELING.

I continued to be my usual self, even through my teammate's efforts to change me. They had no idea who I was, what I'd been through, or what I was feeling or not feeling.

HE DID.

I thought I was the only one with losses, my biggest mistake. I hid beneath my layers of ice, Rei hid behind his smile. He found a way of hiding his feelings even better than I, using his false happiness. We could only imagine each other's pain.

IF ONLY I HAD KNOWN.

Maybe if I had opened up, maybe I could've gotten to know Rei better, maybe we could've had something more than our invisible friendship?

MAYBE NOT.

I thought things were looking up, I thought things were going to get better. I thought many things after we, my team and I had come out on top in the world championships. I for once in my life forgot about the negative.

FOR A LITTLE WHILE.

We were a team, our name 'The Bladebreakers'. Even better than that we were friends, our names Tyson, Max, Rei and myself Kai.

WE WILL ALWAYS BE FRIENDS.

I never expected what happened next. Rei's smile faltered, his mask faded and I wasn't there to help. He didn't know it then and neither did I but he was leaving. Leaving me, us behind.

GONE.

What scared me the most were his hands, they were cold like the rest of him. His eyes were dull he no longer held an aura of warmth or... life.

HE WAS DEAD.

I was at his funeral, I watched him being buried. I heard people crying, mourning for 'The Bladebreakers'. But 'The Bladebreakers' weren't dead, Rei was. My friend was, not just some teammate, my friend. I cried.

TEARS.

I may have cried but... I was not sad.

...I PROMISED.

THE END

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