Egad! I'm writing four fics at once now, since I had the idea for this one and had to write it. Aren't I clever?
This is going to end up fairly long. It's not a humour, I doubt it'll be a romance, and it's very angst-y. Just to let you know.
Warnings: Self-harm, mentions of rape and abuse in later chapters
Disclsimer: As much as I wish it did, Beyblade does not belong to me.
A wave of dizziness passed over him, almost throwing him off balance. Clutching the table, he massaged his temples, trying to regain his footing. These dizzy spells had been happening a lot lately. Oh, well. They were probably nothing.
Blinking furiously, the boy slowly stood up straight, dreading the oncoming headache he was certain to get. Yep, there is was: like a marching band inside his head, beating the drums angrily. And it would remain until he could find the strength to shake it off.
He heard muffled voices approach the door, sounding excited and happy. Sighing, he closed his eyes as the migraine at last faded away, awaiting the screams and cries of his friends as they excitedly told him about their day.
"And then he actually fell off the bench!" Tyson giggled, clutching his glass of lemonade like he was holding onto his life. Hilary nodded, chuckling, while Kenny went bright red with embarrassment.
"Well, at least I didn't get kicked out the cafe!" The chief defended himself, scowling at Tyson, who just waved and grinned cheerfully.
"Ladies, ladies, you're both pretty. There's no need for these petty arguments." Hilary butted in, trying to calm the two boys. They both glared at her (although Kenny's glare wasn't as dark), annoyed she had labelled them 'ladies'.
"Seriously though, it was a great fair. There was a roller coaster and everything." Max said excitedly.
"Anyway, why didn't you come, Tala?" Kenny questioned, delicately sipping his glass of orange juice. Tala blinked at him, before registering what the young boy had said.
"Didn't feel well." He shrugged, diverting his eyes to the floor, hoping Kenny wouldn't see through his lie.
"Why didn't you say? You're not gonna start puking everywhere... Right?" Tyson narrowed his eyes suspiciously. Tala scoffed at the boy opposite him.
"No, Tyson. I'm fine. Where's Kai and Bryan?"
"Kai went upstairs as soon as he stepped through the door. Bryan stopped off at a shop with Spencer. Ian's in the garden, probably with Daichi and Kevin." Max explained, ticking off each person on his fingers.
Tala rolled his ice blue eyes, annoyed that he was left alone with the most infuriating people in all of existence.
"Hey, guys, what's up?" He was distracted from his thoughts of loathing and hatred when Ray entered the room, smiling kindly. Typical Ray. Always happy.
"Nothing much. You?" Tyson said, twisting around on his chair to face his friend.
"Kevin's running around tearing the grass up, Lee's shouting at him, Mariah's somewhere unknown. Apart from that, pretty good. You?" The neko-jin explained, still smiling even though he looked tired.
"Just talkin', you know. Tala doesn't feel well." Tyson said. His last comment caused Tala to shift his eyes onto the back of Tyson's head.
"I'm fine Tyson. Just shut up." The redhead mumbled before hiding his face in his hands, a gesture which highlighted the fact that he wasn't at all 'fine'.
"No, you're not. You look really pale. Do you want to, I don't know, lie down or something?" Hilary asked, placing a hand on Tala's back.
The Russians reaction was unexpected: he jerked away from Hilary's light touch as if she had just branded him with a burning piece of metal, his eyes widening in what seemed like fear. Hilary didn't know what to do; she just stood there, frowning, before lamely dropping her hand back down at her side.
"No. I'm fine. Stop fussing." Tala insisted, blinking at the floor. Tyson and Max exchanged confused glances while Kenny narrowed his eyes from beneath his fringe.
"If you say so. Just... Let us know of you're going to hurl, 'kay?" Rai smiled reassuringly, before disappearing into the hallway.
Suddenly, a shout of 'No, Kevin!' came from the garden, followed by a loud crash. Tyson sighed, standing up to check out the damage. Max followed him, and after a few seconds Kenny and Hilary decided to join as well. Leaving Tala alone at the kitchen table. Finally.
"Idiots." The wolf muttered, carefully laying his head on the hard wood. They were really frustrated him; as if they actually cared about whether he was okay or not. It wasn't his choice that he had to stay with them for a few days, but he certainly didn't want to interact with them. He preferred being alone.
"Dying or something, Ivanov?" A sudden voice made him jump, but he tried not to show it. Turning his head slightly so he could see who it was, he discovered that Kai had decided to emerge from his bedroom, otherwise known as the Deep Dark Lair.
"Oh. It's you." Tala muttered, burying his head in his arms yet again. Kai growled and walked over to him, and was about to push him off his chair or something, but stopped at the last second.
"Where's the others?" He asked, looking around, a frown of confusion on his face.
"Saving Kevin from certain doom." Tala replied, sitting up and rubbing his face with his hands in an attempt to banish his exhaustion.
"Huh?"
"Doesn't matter."
Raising his eyebrows, Kai walked over to the kitchen cupboard, examining it's contents.
"I'm making noodles. Want some?" He retrieved a packet of the Chinese food from the back of the cupboard, looking at the back of the wrapper.
"No thanks." Tala said, looking out of the kitchen window. Sure enough, there were patches of mud where grass once grew, and even a few smashed ornaments here and there. He couldn't see any of the others, though.
"Whatever." Kai tipped the noodles into a pan of water to cook them, before bending down in front of the hob to heat the pan up.
"It's the third dial, dumbass." Tala explained, smirking at the look of embarrassment on his friends face.
"Hn." The Phoenix grunted. "Why're you looking so down, anyway?"
"I'm not. Just tired. Can't wait to leave this place." Tala sighed.
"We're going to be here for at least another month yet, so you better get used to it." That remark made Tala nearly choke on the air he was inhaling.
"A month?! What? Why?" He demanded, clenching his fists angrily. Kai looked at him, surprised at his outburst.
"Mr D hasn't sorted out our homes yet. That's why." He simply explained before turning his back on his friend, stirring the noodles.
Tala gawped at the kitchen table. He thought that he only had to stay here for a couple of weeks, at most! But a whole month? He'd go crazy.
The White Tigers, the G-Revolutions and his team, the Blitzkreig Boys, were staying together in a house in Japan after Tyson's win against Brooklyn. Of course he didn't want to, but he didn't really have much choice: they had no other home to go to.
During the Tag Team Tournament and the revolution against BEGA, himself and his team had been staying in a hotel, courtesy of the BBA. But now that was over, he couldn't really stay there anymore- so it was this, or nowhere. And the second option was very inviting.
"Bryan and Spencer are back." Tala said, hearing them walk through the front door. The two Russians appeared in the doorway a few seconds later, clutching carrier bags full of groceries.
"You've been shopping?" Kai asked, amazed. Bryan and Spencer never shopped. It just didn't happen.
"Yeah. We figured the food and stuff would disappear quickly, especially with Tyson around. And we were running low on a few things already." Spencer explained, setting the bags on the table, nearly hitting Tala in the process.
"Fair enough." Kai said, pouring his noodles onto a plate, burning himself in the process.
"Ooh, noodles. Can I have some?" Bryan asked, eyeing up the plate of steaming gold on Kai's plate.
"Yeah, sure. I've done loads." The bluenette allowed, getting three forks out of the cutlery draw. He handed one of them to Spencer, another to Bryan, and kept one himself.
"Doesn't Tala want any?" Spencer asked looking at the wolf, who still had his face hidden in his arms.
"No. 'Cause he's anorexic and everything." Bryan prodded Tala in the back, frowning when the redhead flinched.
"I'm not, Bryan. Shut up." Tala mumbled, his voice thick with exhaustion.
"What's wrong with Mr Shitface, anyway?" Bryan asked, chewing on a mouthful of noodles hungrily. Spencer smirked when he burnt his tongue.
"Call me that again, Bryan, and it won't be just your tongue that'll be burning." Tala threatened, earning an eye-roll from Kai and Spencer. The four of them were silent for five minutes, eating noodles and sleeping on the table (in Tala's case) before they were interrupted by the others running in.
"Kevin, if I see you anywhere near a rake ever again, I'll nail you to the floor. You're lucky that Ian wasn't standing behind you." Lee said sternly, walking ahead of a very sorry-looking Kevin.
"Yes, Lee. Sorry Ian." He mumbled guiltily, looking at the floor. "I promise that- ooh, noodles!"
Chuckling softly, Ray appeared in the doorway, his arms crossed in front of his chest.
"You can't stay angry at him, Lee. Just look at him." He grinned at his teammate, who was staring at the food with puppy-dog eyes.
"I certainly can, Ray. He could have killed Ian, or at the very least injured him. The poor boy is probably traumatised." Lee said, smiling softly at Ian.
"Actually, I'm fine. It was a blast. Can I have noodles, too?" The snake shrugged, also looking at the plate. Lee sighed, defeated.
"Yeah, whatever. It's about tea time, anyway, I suppose." As he busied himself making noodles with Ray's help, Daichi and Ian had a conversation about what Pokemon was the best. Everyone else either ignored them or joined in with the argument, and by the time tea was ready, they were starving.
"Oh damn. I forgot to make some for you. Sorry Tala, I'll do it now." Lee cursed himself, reaching up to grab another packet.
"No, it's okay. I'm not hungry." Tala quickly said, sitting up straight.
"You have to eat, Tala. You've not ate anything today." Kai frowned. Spencer nodded in agreement.
"Please. I'm really not hungry. I... I don't feel well." The redhead mumbled, desperate to get out of the situation. Unfortunately, he had said the wrong thing.
"See! I knew you were feeling ill! Don't try to deny it, Tala, because you just admitted it." Tyson cried triumphantly.
"What's wrong?" Lee asked. He tried to place a hand on Tala's forehead, but the wolf jerked away, like he had done with Hilary before. Hilary noticed this and tilted her head slightly, puzzled.
"Just a headache. I'll live." Tala said, turning his head away and looking at the table.
"You sure?" Spencer, caring as ever, asked. Tala looked at him.
"I'm fine. Now, if you'll excuse me." He pushed himself up, gripping the edge of the table. Fortunately, no one noticed his unsteadiness.
Before anyone could say anything he walked out of the room, resisting he urge to hold his head. At least that hadn't been a lie. He really did have a headache.
Once in his bedroom, he finally allowed his muscles to relax. He crumpled to the floor, cradling his pounding head in his hands. He wasn't even in his bed; he was lying on the cold carpet, but by then he didn't have the strength to push himself up. It wasn't long until he passed out
In his nightmare, he was running. He didn't know what from, he didn't know what to; all he knew was that he was running. Always running.
Even unconscious, he still felt the pain he had to put up with every waking second. Mental pain, agony, memories. But he also felt physically pain too. But that pain was a good type of pain.
And when he was found a few hours later, still on the floor of his bedroom, he didn't wake up as he was carefully lifted into his bed. He didn't stir as his bed covers were delicately wrapped around him. He continued to sleep as his friend softly kissed the top of his head and left the room.
When he would wake up, he would have to face the day again. Another day of pain, fear. But for now he was asleep. And running. Always running.
Such a massive mystery as to who the first and last bits are about, right? No? ...Okay. I'm cool with that.
Please review, and I need your opinions: should there be romance or not? And, if so, what pairing? The only pairings I'd rather not do are KaiXTyson, KaiXHilary and RayXBryan. Just saying.
Yeah, so please R&R.