Death is not the End
Chapter 1: Justifying the Despair
"You can clutch the past so tightly to your chest that it leaves your arms too full to embrace the present." - Jan Glidwell
"That was so embarrassing," Hiromi said in an exasperated voice, and slammed the door of her room.
Kai was already inside, and was sitting on the chair in front of her computer table; his back was against the table instead of the back of the chair. He gave her a nonchalant look. "You're over reacting." His voice was a drawl. "I was merely trying to help."
Hiromi blinked a couple of times. "Honestly Kai, help?"
"Well, your speech was pathetic," he said simply.
"It was not." The brown haired girl's voice was defensive. "Besides, the point here is, you should not have interfered!"
"No one saw me," he interjected not looking up at girl. He had a picked up a photo frame from her table and was looking at the picture in it.
Hiromi's eyes twitched at the response. "Yes," Hiromi agreed, plopping down on the bed. "They were too busy looking at me glaring at an empty seat and mouthing at it."
"You weren't supposed to tell me to stop to look at me; you were supposed to listen to what I was saying."Kai stated simply.
"How could I do both at once?" Hiromi asked looking at the ceiling, her head was beginning to hurt as she thought of her embarrassing day.
Kai ignored her question. "I think you've forgotten to speak to humans, particularly in public." Kai's voice sounded disapproving.
"Hah," The girl in the room snorted. "You're one to say, when did you talk to people in your life?"
"That was off the mark." Kai folded his arm.
"Okay, fine, sorry!" Hiromi turned around to face him. "I get it that was uncalled for."
Kai rolled his eyes. "I was joking; I'm not offended, you're just being too defensive."
They were both quiet for a while when Hiromi finally spoke up. "What do you mean?"
"About what?" Kai said in a distracted voice, he was still looking at the picture in his hand.
"You know what," Hiromi said without facing him.
He put the frame back on the table, turning it around so the picture was not visible. "Stop turning it back to the front each day." His voice sounded irked.
"I like the picture." Hiromi replied. "Now tell me what you meant."
"I meant what I said; you've forgotten how to speak to humans. Whether individuals or addressing a group of people. You sound monotonous nervous, distracted, you stutter and it seems as if you're speaking for the first time in ages, everything you say is a drawl."
"It's your entire fault," Hiromi buried her face in her pillow.
He coughed. "Mine?"
"You had to come back and mess it up my life." She said, her face still snuggling the pillow.
"Huh," Kai snorted. "You were messed up enough. Maybe that's why I came back." He added the last pass as a thought.
"I was not; I'd have gotten to normal." Hiromi retorted.
"It'd been six months," Kai reasoned his voice was sympathetic.
"This is just making things worst," The ruby eyes girl snapped. "I stop or fail at all attempts because of you."
"Oh no, don't blame me for this," Kai turned in his chair so he was facing the table instead of Hiromi. "You have no desire of things going to normal."
"What about this afternoon at lunch? I was talking from that guy in class and thanks to you I made more of a fool of myself than in History class." Hiromi lifted her face from the pillow.
"I was just stating my opinions; you should have paid attention to the boy." Kai simply stated.
Hiromi narrowed her eyes. "Kinda hard to when you're straight up in my face."
"Well, why are you here?" Kai asked. "Why not at the dojo, when did you ever come home before? You're always here now."
"You bug me too much; the guys were beginning to think I was losing it." Hiromi said her voice less upbeat than before.
"Please, they were thinking that long before me popping in; you are losing it. That's why you're here alone in your bedroom, talking to me of all the people available, and if I wasn't here you'd be alone in your bed room staring at the walls."
Hiromi focused on his words for a while than she picked up the pillow and threw it at his face, forgetting an important fact that Kai did not. As expected the pillow flew through the painted face of Kai Hiwatari and landed on the table knocking over the frame, which fell, glass-side first on the table resulting in breaking of the glass.
Hiromi got up as soon as the crash was heard; Kai just sighed, this was the third time this week the girl had broken something in attempts to hit him.
"You are so frustrating!" Hiromi yelled. "You could have caught it if you wanted to!"
Before Kai could answer there was a quick knock on the door and a woman entered. Both the occupants of the room turned to the woman. She seemed to be in her early forties though didn't look it; her eyes were the same as Hiromi, her hair more lighter, anyone who didn't know could easily tell that she was Hiromi Tachibana's mother.
The woman had clearly heard the shatter and the yell. "Everything alright?" she asked her voice clearly frazzled.
Hiromi gave a nervous laugh. "No mom, just an accident."
"And the yell?" Mrs. Tatibana asked arching one eyebrow.
"I just sweared out loud, everything's fine." Hiromi answered smiling. Kai snorted and she reflexively turned to glare at him.
The mother turned towards her daughter's line of sight and frowned. "Are you sure you're alright, Hiromi?
"Positive." Hiromi assured her. There was a cough from Kai in response, this time she stopped her neck from turning.
"Why don't you go to the dojo today?" Her mother asked walking towards the table; she walked through Kai's legs and leaning against the table picked up the frame.
"I agree with your mother, besides I, and by I, I mean you have to find out what those ass-holes are doing with my property." Kai said getting up from the chair, shaking his head mentally, having someone stand through his legs was getting weird.
"No," Hiromi said with more force than intended, responding more to Kai's suggestion rather than her query.
Mrs. Tatibana sighed; she looked down at the picture with the broken glass shattered over it; it was a picture of her daughter and Kai at a bey stadium, the former in torn and tattered clothes obviously just done with a battle. "Hiromi, you can't stay cooped up in your room; you have to get over your friend eventually."
The dual haired boy nodded solemnly looking at his friend. "She's right, it has been seven months."
"Mom, I'm not upset over anyone, I just need to spend sometime alone, to get over things." Hiromi explained.
"Has it not been long enough?" Mrs. Tatibana's voice was anxious; the worry for her daughter's behavior and isolation was evident in her voice.
"Mom, I'm fine, I just need time; he was my friend." Hiromi justly reasoned.
"Was?" Kai coughed walking out of the room
Hiromi ignored him. "Don't worry."
"You have to understand, Kai is not coming back."
Hiromi was about to say that, No, he just left the room, but she caught the words at the right moment. "I know that, but I have a right to not just pretend that everything's okay, when it's not!" She was tired of people treating her like she had a handle with care sign stuck to her; she wanted them to let her deal with her grief on her own, it was the only way she'd get better; people should stop expecting from her to get back to normal.
Hiromi's mother sighed; she had meant no offence, she was just worried for her daughter. She was about to throw the picture in the trash can next to the table when Hiromi piped up, "No, don't throw it!"
"But dear, it's broken." Her mother protested.
"Let me take out the picture first; don't just throw stuff like that!" Hiromi stepped forward and carefully took the broken frame from her mother's hands and put it gently on the table.
Kai'd walked back inside and had proceeded to sit on the bed where Hiromi was sitting. He was reading a book that was on her bed side table. His eyes though were on his former coach and her mother.
Mrs. Tatibana decided to leave before she did anymore damage; she walked out closing the door behind and her, and she could have sworn she heard her daughter call Kai an idiot.
On the other side, as soon as the door was closed. "Kai, you idiot," Hiromi snapped.
Kai just rolled his eyes. Hiromi didn't see it; she sat down on the chair and began carefully removing the shattered glass pieces.
"You're upset about me," Kai said after a while. He had walked over behind Hiromi who was almost done picking out the shards; finally she'd be able to retrieve the pictures.
"Of course I am," Hiromi turned her head to face him.
"You have to stop," Kai breathed out.
"Why?" Hiromi asked, "Because you're here?"
"No, 'cause I won't always be Hiromi," Kai sighed, "Hiromi, you do know that-"
"You're dead," Hiromi stated nonchalantly.
"Well yes," Kai said scratching his two tones head.
"You're dead that's the problem, you shouldn't be dead, you shouldn't have died, you should have come back, but not like this," Hiromi's voice was about to break.
For the first time in life Kai wanted physical contact, he wanted to comfort the girl in front of him; he knew that he'd pass right through. "So, it's not my wise-ass comments that are making you upset?"
"No," Hiromi chocked out. "I like having you around again. But you're dead."
"Well," The Russian began after thinking a while. "I'm not here on your will am I? I'm on mine. I'm in no mood to leave, bugging you is fun. You're one of the reasons I came back every time I left. I get to spend all the time I want with you, and no stupid commentary from Ray or Tyson."
Hiromi let out a small laugh. "This is so stupid." she mumbled looking at the other occupant of the room.
"I know," Kai snorted, "I never thought you to be one to believe in ghosts."
"You're trying to convince me of you being a figment of my mind?" Hiromi cocked an eyebrow.
"You doubt my existence!" Kai said in a mock hurt tone.
The girl just made an annoyed face.
"So, you're so not leaving, clearly, you're not going out with that boy, clearly," Kai added the last part with a grin. "What do you want to do?"
"Surf the net for tabloid articles?" Hiromi said suddenly.
Kai raised an eyebrow, and then huffed. "Sure."
"You know, I like you better in death, you talk more." Hiromi laughed, she was taking her laptop out from her drawer. She then sat down on the bed in front of Kai.
"I wouldn't say that," he said his voice serious. "I always talked a lot to you."
"Hmm," Hiromi assented. "But only when we were alone."
"Like now," Kai pointed out.
"So, for you to pay me attention and not ignore me, we should be out of public eye? Well, at least you should be," Hiromi asked, flipping open her laptop.
Kai narrowed his eyes than hmph-ed. "Be glad I like talking to you; other's I don't talk to public or private."
Hiromi just shook her head. "Thanks." she said in gratitude, than became silent for a while. "Ooh, this looks promising. 'Tyson Granger, blading champion goes crazy after beloved captain's death.'
"Ha-ha, that sounds more like you." He finished with a cocky grin.
"Hate you," Hiromi said laughing.
"Liar," Kai said in a serious voice.
"Oh, don't be so offended, you're dead. Here- read." She turned the laptop towards him. Dead! She repeated in her mind. She still couldn't get over it, she never would be. Kai, her friend, her captain, whom she knew for the past four years, her closest friend, whom she liked even more than a friend, was dead.
She didn't know how to get over him, or what the apparition in front of her meant, all she knew was she was glad having Kai around once more, even if she was the only one who could see him. After his death, she had missed him like hell; Kai was dead, he was wherever he should have been, and she was suffering there, being left with the memories.
Maybe she was going crazy, but it was okay with her, at least she wasn't miserable anymore; and she liked it. She still grieved for him, missed him, she knew Kai was not alive, but as long as he was there, there with her, she would cherish every moment of it.
"Memory is a way of holding on to the things you love, the things you are, the things you never want to lose"- from The Wonder Years
I know, cliche and corny, but I liked the idea of Kai haunting Hiromi. lol This'll have six or seven chapters, maximum. Hope everyone enjoyed it. :P
I was reading Hamlet, ahem, the other day, never thought I'd do that again after eight grade, how wrong I was, well, I read Hamlet and did two days worth of research on it online. Don't ask why. -_- By the time I was done, I was strangely interested in the life after death concept; and this is what came into being as a result. Didn't write it immediately after the idea popped in my head, 'cause I was doing chem., but soon after it. :P
To die,- to sleep, no more; and by a sleep to say we end the heartache, and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to; 'tis a consummation.Devoutly to be wished. To die... to sleep... To sleep, perchance to dream! Ay, there's the rub, for in that sleep of death what dreams may come,when we have shuffled off this mortal coil... *wipes away tear* *rolls eyes*
And now I'll spare you people from my Hamlet filled mind, I still have to work on Othello and A Midsummer Night's Dream, again the former of of which I never thought I'd have to work on again. -
Those KaiHil fans who had been waiting for the second part of my two shot, The Little Things Give You Away, I'll be putting it up some time today. *grins* Finally!
BTW, I wrote this while listening to Ghost by Blue Foundation, Don't You Mourn the Sun by MiMi and Ghost of days gone by by Alter Bridge. xD
Please review, I for one really liked this. ^_^ Disclaimer: I do not own Beyblade.
~KaiHil Lover
29th May, 2012. 12:35 a.m.