Author: comachine

Title: My Own Protection

Fandom: Beyblade

Disclaimer: I don't own the Beyblade franchise and I am only writing to express myself, not to claim ownership in any way.

However, I do claim full ownership to my OC, Aithne, and any other OCs that may be introduced later… unless I borrow them from you lovely readers.

Rating: T for situations and language, but it will be moved to M later in the fic... If I told you why, though, I'd be spoiling something big.

Takes Place: Alternate Universe (AU), so I don't want to hear anything about being OOC or anything like that.

Pairing(s): Kai/Aithne

Author's Note: Yes, Kai is out of character. I do have a bad habit with the whole OOC-ness. I might be taking OC applications in the near future (as in the next few chapters) so keep an eye out for that. ;D

Before I write anything more, I want to say that I am not writing this for you. I'm writing these events down because, in a twisted way, they help to relieve the pain I feel for him. Everyone says I'll make more progress this way and I'll be able to move on with my life… But I'm not sure I want to move on.

When the weather is like this, all cold and cloudy, I can't help but think about Kai. He loved the cold; he always said that it reminded him of Russia. Today, I was supposed to be writing a term paper, but I couldn't help but let my mind wander to the day we first met.

"Ai!" My sister called to me in her musical voice; I was (and always will be) jealous of her voice. She was downstairs, probably looking over some type of college work.

"What, Artemis?" I responded in my less-than-lovely voice. "I'm busy, can't it wait?"

I could hear her coming up the stairs. She was about half way up when I finally threw on a decent shirt and pair of patched up jeans. I wasn't going anywhere special, so I didn't feel I needed to put on something fancy.

"Changing!" I called as my room's doorknob was turning.

I could hear a sigh from outside. "Thanks for the warning…" I barely heard. "Just hurry it up, okay? I don't want to be late!"

So, that was only a slight lie. I looked at myself in the mirror, turning from left to right to inspect the other parts of my body. I looked at my green top with help from the mirror's reflection and spotted a wrinkle. Quickly, I straightened the wrinkles out of my shirt and smoothed my jeans down.

"Darnit, Aithene!" My sister said, throwing the door open. She took another look at me and sighed. "See! I knew it! You're just obsessed!"

That was a total lie. I couldn't care less about how I looked, honestly. Fiddling with my appearance and the way I dress was only a temporary distraction from my life. Only, I couldn't let my sister know that—heck, I couldn't let anyone do that; I'd be immediately branded as "depressed freak" and sent somewhere I don't want to go. "Sure, sure…" I nodded.

"Come on, please! Hurry up, I really don't want to be late!" Artemis said in a nagging tone, pulling my arm and trying to drag me out of the room.

Let me explain for a second. I promised that I would accompany my sister to her lecture on something-or-another (you'll have to forgive me, I wasn't paying attention to what she was saying) because she didn't want to go by herself. I guess that's pretty much my sister's personality in a nutshell—she can't do anything by herself; she always has to do it with someone else. And lucky me, I was the person she just had to drag along.

"Ai!" She sighed as we stepped out of her '84 Volvo.

I responded with a simple nod. I was too busy taking in my surroundings. I had heard my sister go on and on about how beautiful the campus was, but I had never witnessed it firsthand. Until now, that is.

"Ai, come on!" She said a bit louder, taking quick strides to a large dome-shaped building right in the middle of the campus.

It took me a while to snap myself out of my thoughts. When I eventually did, I realized that I was falling far behind my sister. After a few seconds of sprinting, I caught up with her. "Ever think of slowing down a bit?" I asked, panting slightly.

"Ever think of paying more attention?" She shot back. I could swear that she was increasing her stride length ever so slightly, just to annoy me.

I sighed. So, she was going to be like this. My sister usually acted snappy when she was in a bad mood. The best thing to do when that happened was to simply avoid her and hope that she snaps out of her bitterness quickly.

"Hurry up!" She said to me, motioning for me to follow her through the large auditorium's doors. Wow, we had already gotten to the lecture area. I should think more often; it really seems to pass the time quickly. "Honestly, I think I might've been better off by myself…" She shook her head and mumbled when she noticed my confused look.

"Uh, I'll meet you in there, okay?" I said.

My sister didn't even bother asking why. I'm sure she was, though she'd probably never admit it, happy that I was getting away from her, even if it was for a few minutes. Artemis was strange like that; she asks someone to accompany her then becomes a total bitch. She simply walked in, not looking back at me.

At last, I was alone; no sister, no parents, nothing that can bother me. I wandered the pavilion in front of the dome building for a while, finding a stone bench slightly to the left of the doors my sister had used to enter. I lay on it, staring up at the clouds, one of my favorite things to do.

I was so lost in thought, I almost didn't hear someone speaking to me. "May I take a seat as well?" The voice said. By the tone, I could tell he was repeating himself.

"Ahh." I said, getting up quickly. "I'm sorry." I said, looking up at the person talking to me. It was a tall man in his late teens with crimson eyes and two-toned hair. Quite an odd sight, if I do say so myself. But that wasn't the thing that got me—when I made eye contact with him for the first time, I felt a strange sensation. It wasn't the kind of shock you get when you realize you've forgotten to do something, it was more of the kind of shock you get when you have an incident with a livewire. It was as though my body had briefly become an electric field.

The man seemed to have felt it, too. He took a seat next to me and studied my face closer. "I'm Kai Hiwatari." He finally said, never once removing his eyes from my face.

I felt slightly awkward by the stare down, but I tried not to show it. "Hi. My name is Aithne Parker… But call me Ai." Quickly, I added, "People only use my full name when they're irritated with me."

"Aithne…" Kai mused, "Gaelic, very nice. Little fire one, I believe…" He paused, almost as if he was waiting for me to confirm what he said was true. "Fate sure is an interesting one." He seemed to be talking more to himself than to me, so I didn't bother to interrupt him.

An awkward silence passed over us. Finally, I said, "So, are you a student here?"

Kai gave me the most interesting look. I'm not sure I can even describe it. It seemed to be a mixture of pure shock, amusement, and stupidity all rolled into one. His "look" would be another one of the other things I would always attribute to him. When he realized that I wasn't catching on to what he was hinting about, he finally said, "I'm a professor here."

If I was drinking something, I'm sure I would've spit it out all over him. "No way. You don't look old enough to be a professor here."

"On the contrary." He said, raising the corners of his mouth a bit. It wasn't quite a smile, however. "I actually teach in the foreign languages department."

I didn't respond; even if I had something to say to that, I doubt that I would have been able to say anything to him. It was a strange feeling, being attracted to Kai in the few minutes I've met him.

"What are you thinking about?" He asked suddenly, looking at my face again.

I looked away and blushed. "Why? Trust me, it isn't anything important, let alone interesting…"

Kai raised the corners of his mouth again, still not a smile. "Please tell me. When you think, your face shines with knowledge and understanding in a way I rarely see in most normal people."

Yeah. After that statement, I could tell he wasn't a student. "No, no." I said, still not looking directly at him.

Kai looked slightly disappointed, but he didn't pursue the matter any farther. We sat alone in silence for a bit more. "I'm sorry to cut our first meeting short…" He said, starting to get up. "But I fear that, if I don't hurry up, I'll be late for my own lecture."

I cocked my head, now making the connection. "You're the one teaching today?" I asked, pointing to the building.

He nodded, starting to turn and walk.

"I guess I'll see you there, then." I said lightly, getting up as well. "That's where I'm headed."

Kai turned and said, "I'll look for you." And on his face was a small but genuine smile.

Yep, yep. New fic. I'm almost done with the new ones... Then I'll get back to updating my current ones. ;; I just have two more ideas I need to get out then we're good. I hope. XD;;

R&R,

Kurisu