Hello! I totally was not putting off homework to write this XD. Same as always, they don't belong to me!
AsterDragElf: You're welcome~ Hope you like the second chapter!
Eclairia: Mmmhmm! Thank you~ Haha, I did get the next part posted! Hope you enjoy it!
Read and Review!
Last time:
Kai was no stranger to pain. Between moving away at a young age to losing Ren and then Aichi to Psyqualia, he already knew that life was filled with ups and downs. But did the world really have to take away his family from him again? Hadn't he suffered enough? The funeral ended on a low note, the rain having grown harder. The brunet was offered a rain jacket from his aunt to stop the rain from soaking him, but he refused it. He liked the rain. And at least this time it would hide the tears running down his face.
Kai walked around aimlessly. His aunt had spoken to him briefly before he left and now the conversation was weighing him down like a twenty pound weight. He felt an emotion that he hadn't in a very long time. Fear. He was so caught up in the foreign emotion that he didn't notice three people walk up to him. It was only when one of them put his hand on his shoulder that Kai whipped around, raw emotion plain on his face before realising who it was.
"Kai…kun? Are you ok?" came the soft voice. Kai breathed in slowly. Then he nodded.
"Y-yeah… I'm ok. What are you doing here, Miwa, Gaillard, Aichi?" The European champion's eyes narrowed but he said nothing. Miwa chose not to answer the question. Eventually, Aichi spoke up.
"We saw you come from the cemetery. I just wanted to offer my condolences, Kai-kun. I'm sorry for your loss." It took all Kai had not to make a face in front of his friends. He had heard enough of that phrase when his parents died and now he had to listen to it again. But nonetheless, he accepted Aichi's words thankfully and made his way back home alone.
"He's hiding something," Gaillard said simply. The other two turned to him, unreadable expressions on their faces.
"Kai-kun is very used to hiding things, especially his pain. I was hoping that he would know that we are all supporting him but it seems that he still wants to deal with it on his own. He still needs some time." Miwa gave a sad smile to support Aichi's point, as if to reminisce all the times he had comforted Kai when the other cracked under pressure. It was never pretty and Miwa knew not to tell anyone about Kai's periodic breakdowns. He sighed.
"He'll come around if it's something major," he said as he parted ways with the two bluenets.
Kai flopped down on his bed. He couldn't take this. Why did the world hate him? He felt the tears sting the side of his eyes as he recounted the conversation with his aunt.
"Toshiki... be careful," his aunt said. Kai gave her a confused look.
"What do you mean?" he asked. His aunt carefully looked around, as if searching for something or someone eavesdropping on their conversation.
"Your uncle was murdered. But there was a note next to him. The police didn't want this to go public but the note was coded and said that anyone close to you would be in danger. Toshiki, you have to promise me that you'll take care of yourself!" Kai stared at the woman who had taken care of him since his parents died. She might as well be his second mother. She was warm and kind just like his birth mother. He gave her his word. The stress and tension visibly left her features and she enveloped her nephew in a warm hug underneath the shelter of her umbrella.
He felt the tears run down his cheeks and he made no move to stop them. Why? Why did it have to be him? Every single time, it was always him! Kai felt himself fall deeper and deeper into despair. He was brought out of his self-pity when his home phone rang. He sniffed and tried to regain his composure before picking up.
"Hello?" he asked, as normally as he could. There was a pause on the other end, as if the person knew that he had been crying before a bright voice chirped,
"Hey, Kai! I called because… well I got bored and I didn't want to do my homework!" Kai could see through his best friend's fake enthusiasm easily but it did cheer him up a little that someone cared about him. He tried not to sniffle as he answered,
"Well you should do your homework, Miwa. You want to get into the same university as Tokura, right?" The brunet heard a yelp on the other end and immediately knew that he was right.
"H-How did you know that?" the blond asked. Kai laughed softly.
"It's written plain as day across your face." Kai could practically hear his childhood friend pout before they moved on to less intimidating matters. Kai himself still hadn't figured out where he wanted to go. He had gotten tons of offers from universities and colleges alike, but he had also received numerous invitations from pro circuits around the world. Eventually, the two boys hung up on their phone conversation. Kai turned on the T.V in front of his bed and flipped to the news channel. He let it play in the background as he prepared his dinner. He was in the mood for fried rice today.
He was in the middle of pouring the sauce into his rice when the familiar tone of "breaking news" came on. He listened intently to the announcer and later wished that he hadn't.
"Breaking news! Details of a coded note from the killer of Kai Shinji, deceased uncle of the famous cardfighter, Kai Toshiki, have been disclosed! Authorities claim that the killer may not mean anything by the coded threat that has stumped even our best detectives. It is unknown whether or not there is a target behind the killings.
Kai turned the T.V off. He didn't want to listen to anymore. He felt the dread settle in his stomach and realised dully that his rice was burning. Kai sighed and took it off the stove. Suddenly, he didn't feel like eating anymore. He set the burnt food aside and flopped onto his bed. He was so tired of everything. He soon fell into a difficult slumber.
That's all! About the code, his aunt can solve it because the code is in a special kind of family code I guess. No one in the police knows the code; only members of the Kai family do.
