Jaheira1000: I don't know why I am doing this to myself, but these were just lying around the house and I decided to post them as incentive for me to finish them!

Disclaimer: Not mine!

Warnings: Yaoi, Kai torture, possible mentions of rape and abuse, etc…

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DARK DELIGHT:

CHAPTER ONE: Breakdown

They thought he was emotionless. They thought he didn't care. They didn't know. They probably didn't even care. For two years they have lived together, but still they had no idea who he was. They didn't bother to try. He was dying. Not physically. On the inside. His heart was crying in pain. He wanted love, needed it. He wanted to be accepted. He knew it would never happen. They didn't care now, so why would that change? They pretended for the sake of the team, but still he was an outsider among friends. Friends? What were friends? Why did he want them? He had never had any before. Nobody had cared about him before. His heart was screaming out in pain, and he was the only one who could hear it. He tried, he really did. He helped them all in his own small ways. They would get back to the hotel and 'somebody would have ordered supper'. Nobody ordered supper, he cooked for them. They would get sick and 'somebody' would look after them. He pretended to have doctor's orders. They would be losing a battle, and 'somebody' would give them advice in a way that they would learn from. He wasn't just criticizing. This somebody was Kai Hiwitari, leader of the Blade-breakers…

The Breakers were living together for two years after the BEGA incident. Everybody had gone back to their respective homes, but Rei and Kai were staying at Kai's mansion. After Voltaire had been arrested and given a lifetime sentence, Kai had inherited all his wealth. This meant however, that Tyson and Max had decided to make it their new home, and moved in shortly afterwards (Tyson's grandfather practically shoved him out the door). Now however, Kai was brooding. The others all thought he had a chef. He did, but he asked the man to only cook for his other employees. He had only kept the servants around because he couldn't let so many people sit jobless. He had given them the option of looking for other work, but they had declined. He didn't realize how much the servants cared for him. They had all known him since he was just a baby, so they knew some of what he had been through. As he made his way downstairs, he tried thinking up new ways of avoiding the question of where his parents were. It was a bit of a sore subject, since Voltaire had murdered them when he was only four years old. Another sticky subject was when they kept asking about the Abbey. That was mostly Tyson who didn't have a sensitive bone in his body. As he walked into the kitchen, he sighed. Time to cook. He grabbed everything he would need for the food, before marching over to the stove. He swiftly made plates of egg, bacon, toast, and all those other wonderful things that he was sure the team would enjoy. He finished just in time as he heard a crash outside the kitchen. Tyson had smelt the food and made his way towards the kitchen. As he placed the last plate on the table the rest of his team entered, led by Tyson. They plopped themselves down at the table before starting to dish up. He looked around as they all helped themselves. He stood up, deciding against eating breakfast.

"Where are you going Kai?"

"None of your business Rei."

"Geez, will you quit being such a wet blanket!" Tyson as always, was the first to start throwing the insults.

"Tyson, I think you should stop being a jerk."

"But Max, did you see how he treated Rei? He's being a total jerk"

'So I've gone from a wet blanket to a jerk without saying another word. How interesting. What gives them the right to know where I'm going and what I do?'

"Tyson, I don't mind what he said. He was right. It isn't any of my business. I also wouldn't appreciate it if somebody kept asking me where I was going. Sorry Kai."

"But Rei…"

"I said it's ok Tyson!"

"Fine."

"Hn, whatever." With that, Kai left the room, but not before he heard Tyson's mumbled parting shot.

"I don't see why. It's not as if that block of ice cares." Ducking his head sadly, he made his way out of the room…

Rei POV:

I didn't mean to upset Kai. I'm just worried about him. I really wish he would just tell me what is wrong. It doesn't help that he keeps saying he's fine. He's not fine. It's just…something seems to be bothering him. I hear Tyson's remark about a block of ice. To my surprise, I also see Kai hesitate then walk on. Whoa, that was weird. I thought for sure Tyson's life was gonna be ended. Something just seems off. I would very upset if somebody said that about me. Oh well. I suppose he doesn't care what Tyson thinks as long as he wins matches.

Normal POV:

Kai sat on the roof of his mansion staring at the early morning sky. He saw dark clouds approaching, but he didn't care. The weather seemed to match his mood perfectly. He thought about the comment Tyson made, about the fact that even after so long he wasn't able to let them see how they affected him…how they hurt him. He hurt so badly, that sometimes he wished he could just join his parents. He didn't know why he was still here. Everybody had a purpose in life right? What was his? Had he perhaps already done what was needed of him? He didn't know anymore. They didn't realize it, but all those careless comments thrown at him were making him into the monster they thought he was. His spirit was dying. His soul. He didn't see the light anymore. He had seen it while beyblading, but he had also realized that he needed that light in everyday life as well. Also, since he had glimpsed the light, he couldn't live without it. If this was what was happening to him, it would have been better if they had never breached his mask in the first place. He felt despair well up within him, and suddenly the gates crashed. For the first time in twelve years, he cried his heart out. His slight frame shook with sobs. He couldn't take it anymore. He didn't want to be like this. He wanted to be the real him. The one who smiled and laughed, who loved animals and small children. He didn't want this. He hadn't deserved this life had he? Perhaps he had unknowingly committed some sin that had brought about this inhuman torture. So it was that the great Kai Hiwitari revealed that he was just a scared and confused child who had been deprived of a childhood…

Rei POV:

I'm worried. We've all finished breakfast, and gathered for practice. There's just one problem. Our captain and coach is missing. I haven't seen him since breakfast, which, come to think of it, he didn't eat. I really have to complement his chef, the man's a miracle, but I'm losing focus.

"Hey guys, I think we should go look for Kai."

"What? Why? The old sourpuss is probably just doing this to get back at me for insulting him at breakfast."

"I'm worried. Now that I think about it, he didn't look so good. He looked really down Tyson. I think you might have hurt him with that last comment."

"Oh please. He probably didn't even hear me, and even if he did, he wouldn't care. He probably just has a bruised ego."

"Tyson's right Rei. How can you even tell he was down? He doesn't show any emotion right?"

"You guys are idiots. I'm gonna go look for him." I turn my back on them and head for the stairs. He seems to like rooftops. On reaching the roof, I start looking. I hear something. It sounds strange like someone in pain? I motion to the others to come slowly. They had followed me from the kitchen. Whoever's up here might not appreciate us bursting in on them. I hear the noise coming from the highest point on the roof.

We slowly make our way over and peek over the edge of the roof. All of us literally fell on our arses. It was Kai! He was sitting on the roof…crying. We stand up and look at him again. He really seems upset. His whole body is trembling, but he isn't cold. He's trembling from emotion. I feel so helpless. I don't even know why he's so upset. In general we're all just in shock. Wait, he couldn't…could he? He can't be upset about what Tyson said can he? While my mind wrestles with these new facts, I think we must have made a noise. Kai looked around, straight into my eyes. The pain I see there…I never want to see something like that ever again.

Normal POV:

Kai didn't know how long he had been sitting there, and he honestly didn't care. After a while though, he senses a presence, and he realizes he is not alone anymore. Turning his head, he looked into a pair of amber eyes. The shock there was his undoing. His gaze flicked to the left and he noticed Tyson and Max with similar shocked expressions.

He couldn't take it anymore. They had found out, but they obviously couldn't believe that the 'block of ice' could show so much emotion. He felt the darkness coming up behind him, but this time, instead of pushing it away, he embraced it…welcomed it. Perhaps it would take him away from this world where nobody cared. He felt his eyes slide shut, and he felt his body pitch forward, but he didn't care. He didn't, however, feel the soft arms that caught him before he hit the roof…

As Rei watched in horror, Kai started swaying lightly before pitching forwards. Seeing him collapse, Rei leapt forward, catching him before he hit the ground. Turning him around, Rei gasped at the look of raw pain on the younger bladers face.

That's right. Kai was actually the youngest member of the team, which they had only recently discovered, when Tyson was snooping around Kai's room and had discovered his ID document. The first few numbers indicate a person's date of birth, and Tyson had been trying to discover when Kai's birthday was. Unfortunately he had also noticed the year, which was 2 years after Tyson's own. Apparently the young blader's body had matured fast, but that also meant that he hadn't changed much in these two years, gradually becoming the shortest member of the team, while Rei was the tallest, followed by Max, Tyson, Kenny and finally Kai, who was an entire head shorter than Rei.

Shaking himself out of his daze, Rei scooped Kai into his arms and carried him bridal style back into the mansion. Outwardly, he was trying to appear calm and collected, but on the inside he was frightened by how light the younger teen was. If he looked closely, he could count Kai's ribs. How come none of them had noticed that he wasn't eating? Shaking his head slightly, Rei put him softly on a sofa in the living room. Tyson and Max had taken a different route in order to fetch the butler who would know what to do.

After a few minutes, the two boys came back, followed by the aged man who had taken care of their captain since he was a baby. After making a thorough inspection of the fragile body on the sofa, he sighed.

"The young master is fine. I think he was just very upset, and the load became too much for him to handle. He should be awake shortly." Having said all this, he made way out of the room.

Silence reined in the room for another hour before the Breakers captain stirred. They crowded around him as his eyes fluttered open. Smiling gently, they reached out to help him up. They nearly jumped out of their skin when he let out a shriek of terror and backed away so fast that he toppled over the side of the sofa onto the floor. Heart beating a mile a minute, Rei leaned over and spoke to the young boy who looked so terrified as to be unable to speak.

"Kai, it's ok. It was just a dream." He reassured, thinking he must have been having a nightmare. They watched as he blinked at them and scooted a bit further from them.

"Who you are? Why you know me name?" Were the softly voiced questions, in a voice that sounded disturbingly childish with a thick Russian accent. They were shocked. Did Kai have amnesia? Was he sick? Moving towards the obviously distressed boy, Rei knelt down next to him and put his hand on Kai's shoulder. He got the shock of his life when Kai suddenly broke into tears, while mumbling.

"L-L-Leave m-m-me alone. Me w-want my mommy!" To say they were surprised was like calling the Pacific Ocean a nice puddle of water. Kai was acting like a total child. As that thought crossed his mind, Rei's eyes widened. It couldn't be.

"Kai, how old are you?" The softly voiced question halted the flow of tears. Tyson and Max looked at him like he was crazy, but Kai just sniffled and answered.

"I turn 4 this year. Why?" For a minute it was as if the world had stopped moving, before Tyson broke the silence by starting to laugh. He was laughing so hard, he was struggling to breathe. Seeing this spectacle, Rei asked.

"What exactly is so funny?"

"Well, he really had us going for a while. I seriously thought there was something wrong, but you can give up the act now."

"Tyson, what the hell are you talking about?"

"Well Rei, I actually thought something was wrong with the old sourpuss, but this is just his way of trying to get back at me. He's just putting it all on." As if to prove his point, he strode over to Kai who had been watching this whole exchange with wide eyes. Reaching Kai, Tyson ignored the questioning look shot at him, and backhanded him in the face. Nobody was more surprised than Tyson when Kai, instead of hitting him back, started apologizing to him. They also noticed him holding back tears. Trying to reassure him, Rei asked him.

"But what are you sorry about? And why do you stop yourself from crying?" Blinking up at him cutely, Kai answered.

"Well, grandpa hit me like that when I bad or do something wrong. He always tell me to cry weak, and weak get punished." He tilted his head to the side in a silent question when he saw the shocked looks on their faces.

"Me do something wrong?" Rei shook his head sadly and hugged the younger boy closer before shooting a glare at Tyson.

"No Kai, you didn't do anything wrong." Looking at the others, Rei shook his head sadly. What had they done? Why was he reliving his childhood? Besides that, how could anybody hit a mere child in the face just because of some things he did wrong? He knew Voltaire was bad, he just never realized how bad. He noticed Kai snuggling into his chest, like a baby seeking his mother, and blushed. Out of all of them, Rei was the only one he seemed to trust instinctively. Just what was going on?

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Jaheira1000: There you go! Another product of my psychotic mind! Remember to leave a review on your way out!