Jaheira1000: Hey all! Thank you to all those wonderful reviwers! I spent all night finishing this so enjoy!
Nameless little girl-K: I'm really glad you're enjoying the story.
Miako6: I hope you like how this ends, and there is no romance in this fic, only insinuations, and that's not with the OC's, so you don't have to stress.
Lady of the Damned Land: You'll find out what happened soon I promise.
Kai Angel: There's a bit more history also on the way, so keep an eye out!
Kay1Fire: Your wish is my command! I try to update almost every day. (I'm not really getting a lot of sleep at the moment, but oh well)
Disclaimer: Stop rubbing it in already! I'm poor and I don't own diddly!
CHAPTER THREE: NO CHOICE
Kai was staring at the trees ahead of him. He was in a park. It was still night-time. He hadn't been able to stand that hospital since it was the day that SHE had died. Today was the anniversary of his mother's death. Looking at his watch he waited for it to turn midnight. As midnight struck so did he. He started punching the tree nearest him. He couldn't think clearly. This had been his ritual every year. He couldn't stand the pain, the mental anguish, so he came to a place like this one to inflict pain on his body, hoping to forget the pain in his mind. To escape the memories.
Kenny looked at Max and Tyson who were complaining of the cold, and Ray who walked ahead unsmilingly. Finally his gaze rested on the girl leading them. He shook his head wondering what was going on…
As the Bladebreakers followed the strange girl into one of the parks of Russia they heard a rhythmic thumping sound. As they walked onwards the sound got louder. Coming suddenly into a small clearing they discovered the source of that noise. Four mouths (AN: Excluding the strange girl) dropped open in shock. It was Kai! But the thing that really got them was the fact that he was practically breaking his knuckles on a tree. They all ran towards the bruised and weary captain. Even when they reached him he still kept on. "Kai! Dude, what are you doing?" Tyson grabbed his shoulders and tried to yank him away from the tree, but Kai shrugged him off. "Kai!" Max and Kenny both tried similar methods as Tyson, but received the same results. "What's wrong with him?" Max asked looking concerned. "I don't know Maxie, but we gotta snap him out of it!" Tyson said going towards Kai again. "Tyson!" Kenny was trying to stop Tyson, "Wait!" Reluctantly Tyson turned towards Kenny. "What's wrong chief?" Kenny thought a moment before speaking, "Something is seriously wrong with Kai. It's as if he doesn't even know that we're here." "Yeah, so?" Came the clueless reply. Kenny could have clobbered Tyson for his stupidity. Ray spoke up, "Listen Tyson, the chief has a point. This isn't just an anger trip. Something is bothering Kai. A person doesn't just get up out of hospital and go busting up a tree for no reason." Tyson frowned at the neko-jin. "So what are you trying to say?" Ray answered, "I don't know exactly what's going on with Kai, but we should try to make him aware of us. He could almost be sleep walking with all the notice he's taking of us, but at the same time I don't think he's ignoring us. I think he truly doesn't know we're here." As Ray finished speaking the strange dark girl came walking up clapping. "Well done. You figured it out." She said without malice. "Would you care to know why he is doing this to himself?" Four pairs of eyes fastened onto her, waiting in expectation. Taking a deep breath she slowly started speaking. "Today is the anniversary of his mother's death. He is doing that to himself to forget his mental anguish." Tyson piped up, "But that's no reason to go over the deep end, unless his mom was like evil or something." The girl sadly shook her head, His mother was the gentlest and kindest of creatures, and he was her tenth child. She adored him more than any of the others." There was a collective gasp upon learning about how many siblings Kai had. "But why does Kai suffer such pain if his mother was such a great person?" Kenny asked. The dark haired girl looked directly at him and answered, "He was always unfairly blamed for his mother's death. There were those who couldn't accept the fact that she had lived with a fragile constitution." Ray looked at the girl and asked the fatal question, "But who would possibly blame Kai for the loss of his mother?" Tears shimmered in the dark eyes as her lips formed the words, "His father……"
Staring at the strange girl before them, the Breakers tried to take in what she had told them about their captain. They had never known. They had never even cared. They all felt about six inches tall, recalling some of the things they had said to and about him in the past. Watching the boys' reactions, the girl spoke again, "That is not the worst of what has befallen this person, but now is not the time for further revelations." Thus saying she ran off into the trees. Focusing their attention back onto Kai they could only stand staring as he beat himself raw. They were still with shock. Not one of them could imagine what that must have been like. As they watched, Kai slumped forward once more. He was too exhausted, but still he tried to get up, to continue his pounding. This action made the others realise that they had to stop him from injuring himself even further. They ran towards him and, nodding to each other, they all simultaneously grasped him, two on each arm, to drag him back to the hospital. Not one of them were expecting the amount of resistance that the young captain put up. It was as if he was possessed. It took the combined efforts of all four boys to drag him away. By the time they managed to drag him away from the tree all of them were exhausted, but Kai broke free of them just to return where he had been. Finally, losing his temper and realising that this was the only way, Ray walked up to Kai. "I'm sorry man." He said softly, lifting his fist to knock out the slate-haired boy. His body, having taken such a beating already, couldn't stand up to the force. And so Kai, captain of the Bladebreakers was knocked unconscious yet again. The others stared at Ray as he lifted Kai off the ground to support him. "Stop staring and give me a hand!" Ray snapped at them glaring. Thus it was that the Bladebreakers left the park, Tyson and Ray supporting the limp body of their captain and friend…
Arriving back at the hospital with Kai in that state caused an uproar. The media was still there. Max and Kenny pushed a path open through the throng of people to make space for Tyson and Ray who were still supporting the limp form that was Kai. Slowly they made their way back to Kai's room where Mr Dickenson was waiting. As they entered the room he jumped up with a, "Dear me, what happened?" The boys looked at each other not sure what to tell him. Finally Max spoke up, and eventually the others chipped in, giving Mr D the full story, though a bit disjointed. "Oh dear." He said, "I had hoped he would have forgotten his terrible past by now." The four boys stared at him. "You mean to tell us you knew about this all along but never told us?" Tyson yelled. "Well, I didn't know the whole story myself, but I knew enough to suspect that he had a less than pleasant childhood. However, I thought it only fair that he should be given the chance to either forget and put it behind him, or to tell you himself. I see now that I was wrong. You cannot measure Kai by normal standards because he was raised differently, and it is that childhood which turned him into the person you know." Mr Dickenson looked slightly sad as he finished. "I made a serious error in judgement by not telling you this before, and that must have made things even more difficult for him to know that none of you understood. He also wouldn't show it if something you said wounded him, because his nature is such that he keeps things bottled up inside so that the only one who gets hurt is him." For a few moments everybody was silent, staring at the troubled young blader lying in the bed so quietly it was as if he didn't wish to return to reality. Thinking about the things they discovered, it wasn't surprising. Who would want to face reality if everything they had heard was true? Little did they know that things were destined to become worse before they got better…...
Jaheira1000: Don't forget to R&R! Please, you guys are my reason for not sleeping!
Tyson: Get a life.
Jaheira1000:Makes obscene gesture
Everybody: Oo