Doesn't Know She's Perfect
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Disclaimer: I don't own Beyblade, for no one could possibly fathom the utter havoc I would unleash within it...Chapter Three
Home At Last
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Kai glared at the retreating form of his best friend. He had just dropped Ray off at his house, and was cursing his bad luck once again. He let out a sigh of exasperation and faced forward as he began to drive off. The poem ran through his head as he paused for a stop sign, and he gripped the steering wheel tighter. Hiwitari Kai did not like it when others claimed his work as their own. In fact, the last kid who'd done that was on the receiving end of the Russian kickboxing expert's wrath.

The boy who dared to invoke his fury didn't show his face in the halls of the school for a week. And once he did come back to school, forced there by his parents, he was already deemed a cheater, and was avoided as if he were under quarantine. Most of the students wouldn't interact with him because they feared that they, too, would face Kai's anger, and others wouldn't be seen with him because of the mere fact that he was a cheater.

The entire school found out that the teen stole Kai's work because, although he is quite useless in many areas, Kon Ray has a big mouth...and Ray told everyone. This was, of course, planned by Kai. Though he may not do anything directly, apart from making them bleed and cry, to the thief, he makes sure that the job gets done completely, and right.

Perhaps the reason that he had allowed Ray to use his poem was because Kai was never particularly fond of "romantic, lovey dovey, ", which was how he so lovingly labeled it. It may have been that Ray was his best friend, but Kai didn't feel that was the reason. He was a loner, Ray was just always there.

The slate and navy haired Senior heard the satisfying crunch of the gravel beneath his tires as he pulled into the driveway of his large home. He knew that Ward would be sitting next to the door, patiently waiting for his daily walk.

The house was large, but in a well-off neighborhood, so Kai's neighbors generally left the teen to himself. It was two stories tall, with a full basement. The home had become, over the years he had lived in Japan, a sort of haven for the Hiwitari heir. His grandfather, Voltaire, in Russia was becoming too overbearing on his grandson, always trying to make him prove that he was worthy of the fortune that would be passed onto him once his grandfather died, whether it was through physical labor, grades, or board games.

Voltaire had, over time, developed a nearly obsessive love for chess, and was constantly forcing Kai to duel against him. Kai always won, as his grandfather had only just earned a respect for the game, and also, because he was an expert chess player, but his grandfather persistently attempted to get him to verse him again. Kai believed that it was because the old man had everything that money could buy, and wasn't sure what to do next.

Needless to say, Kai grew less fond of the game over the span of a year...

The insanity halted once Kai had a stroke of brilliance, and demanded that he would be allowed to attend a Japanese school. He claimed that he wanted to get a feel for the other half of his heritage...and his grandfather bought it. Voltaire insisted on getting a mansion retreat built in a secluded area, but Kai refused and opted, instead, for the large home that he has grown fond of. Besides, he wouldn't know what to do with all of the space in the mansion that his grandfather wanted to build.

Kai discovered that he very much liked living in Japan, and that the other half of his heritage was quite an interesting culture. After all, he was born and raised in Moscow, and even the cold-hearted like to get away from all the snow and seclusion once in awhile.

Kai opened the driver's door and got out of his Mustang GT, locking the glossy black vehicle and heading up the path toward his front door. As the doorknob turned, he heard Ward's claws scrape against the hardwood floor as the German Shepard stood up. Soon as the door had opened, Ward was nudging Kai's hand with his snout, looking, appealingly, up at his master.

The crimson eyed teen scratched the black fur behind Ward's ears and headed toward the only other human occupant of the house's room. He knocked and the bedroom door was answered by Nicholai, the elderly servant that prepared most of Kai's meals and kept the house in order. Nicholai was fifty-two, and had been serving the Hiwitari family since he was twenty-six. He was a kind old man with blizzard white short hair, beard and moustache. Though Kai hated the fact that Nicholai was employed to be there, he very much enjoyed the humor that Nicholai found in small things. The man was very observant, very productive, and very dangerous.

Nicholai was a very skilled martial artist and kick boxer. He was Kai's instructor since the boy could walk in the art of self-defense. Kai had grown to see the old man as a second father, seeing as his parents both died in a tragic car accident when he was young. The night of his parents' deaths, was the first and last night that Hiwitari Kai has ever cried...and, because he was the only one truly fit to comfort the boy, Nicholai is the only person to have ever seen him cry. The Russian teen has been forever grateful of Nicholai's silence on the matter.

Though Kai insisted that he did not need a bodyguard, as he was fully trained and had bested his teacher several times, his grandfather sent Nicholai to Japan with him. The slate and navy haired boy has told Nicholai, time and again, that he needn't do so much work, but the old man would just laugh and say, "I do believe that my feeble bones can handle some light cooking and cleaning, Kai." Nicholai preferred to be called by his name, and was very glad that Kai didn't mind not being called "Master Hiwitari".

"Nicholai, I'm going to take my backpack to my room and then take Ward for his walk. Is there anything that I should get from the store while I'm out?" Kai generally asked this to lighten the load on Nicholai's schedule. If he didn't really care about the old man, then Nicholai would be the one walking Ward.

"There is nothing that is needed, Kai, but thank you for asking." Nicholai responded, as he usually did. He knew what Kai was up to, and was grateful for the rests in his routine that were given generously to him by the teen. Kai nodded, and walked up the stairs as the bearded elder headed toward the kitchen, making preparations for dinner.

There was nothing particularly remarkable about Kai's bedroom. It had a mahogany desk, which was littered with various papers and his laptop, a double-doored closet, crimson walls that were covered in band posters, a black futon in the corner of the room, and a large window with the blinds pulled shut that faced the driveway. The aspect that Kai liked most about his room, were the bookshelves that lined two entire walls with their knowledge. They were from many different countries, as Kai knew many languages, and kept him occupied when he wasn't finishing his schoolwork.

Another shelf was next to the place in which he slept and dreamed, filled with cds. There were cds from many of the bands that decorated his walls. Stone Sour, Linkin Park, Staind, Eve 6, Bush, Fuel, Garbage, Blink 182, and Cold were the ones that were listened to most often, so they were the ones placed next to the cd player on the top shelf.

Kai tossed his black messenger bag onto the futon, and headed back downstairs, grabbing Ward's black leash and hooking it onto the spiked collar that the dog wore once he reached the front door. As they headed out the door, Nicholai looked out from the kitchen, about to ask how Kai's day went, but saw that the door had already been shut. He smiled, knowing that he could ask later.

The Russian teen looked around him before his gaze rested on Ward, who was keeping pace at his master's heel. Ward had been a gift from Nicholai once they had moved to Japan. The dog had been trained by Nicholai after he had walked in the door with the black bundle of fur perched in his arms. From then on, Ward had become another gooey string of glue that held the household together.

As the duo walked, Kai's thoughts whirled around inside his head, until he eventually ended up remembering the "incident" at the flagpole. He frowned as he remembered that Mariah's brother had tried to run him over. "Crazy jackass, I was only being polite to his sister..." Ward looked up at the frowning boy, cocking his head slightly to the right in confusion.

Kai looked down at the sudden motion, and patted the dog's head, "Don't worry about me, Ward, I'm just thinking out loud." The animal that was being spoken to started to wag his tail, understanding by Kai's slight smirk that his master was just a little irritated.

Ward barked lowly, a whine escaping his throat as he wagged his tail even more eagerly once they got to the park, some thirty minutes later, anxiously awaiting his chance to get off the leash. They walked into the lit, grassy area and Kai unhooked Ward's leash to let him run around for a bit before they headed back home.With Mariah
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Mariah's ride home was silent, so she began to ponder everything and anything. Eventually, later than most girls her age would have, she thought about her secret admirer, or, who she believed him to be, Hiwitari Kai. He was the dream of most girls at Hirashi High School, and Mariah had known since she began to attend school with him that he was very attractive.

When she thought back far enough, she realized that he was actually the first person that caught her interest. He was so secluded, always sitting by himself...or at least he used to sit alone, as he seemed to find company in the form of one Kon Ray. Ray was, obviously, the more talkative of the two. Kai, however, was the quiet, productive one. He worked diligently on whatever gained his attention, and seemed involved enough with whatever that thing was to block his loud friend.

Later, when she asked Salima about the Russian boy, as her red-haired friend seemed to always know things before she did, she had replied that there was no chance of ever making him interested. He was the coldest resident of the school, and no matter how many admirers he had, he took no notice of them at all.

Everyone knew that he was rich; they knew how the Hiwitari family ran practically all business that went on in Russia. Several students thought that Kai was just some spoiled, stuck-up brat that thought that he was too good to associate with common riff raff like them. Others thought that the grey and blue haired teen was a trained assassin, sent to Japan on a mission to kill some big business tycoon.

Truth be told, there were many rumors circulating the school about the crimson eyed boy, the assassin theory being the second farthest from the truth. The most obscure was the rumor that Kai was in Japan to find a wife...after the stalkers got a hold of that bit of false information, Kai's daily routine had gone to the dogs, and didn't revert to normalcy for a month.

Soon, though, Mariah was shaken from her train of thought as her brother stopped the beat up truck in front of their apartment complex. Mariah grabbed her crimson messenger bag and exited the vehicle, pushing the lock down, and then lifting the door handle to be sure that it was secure. Lee did the same and then headed for the front door of the complex.

"Lee, is it all right if I go over to Salima's for an hour or so?" Mariah asked. Her orange eyed elder brother glanced briefly at her as he held open the door before saying, "You may, sis, just make sure you're not more than a couple of hours." When Mariah opened her mouth to retort, Lee smirked, "And don't think that I don't know how caught up the two of you can get in talking." Mariah stuck her tongue out and began to hurry up the stairs toward Salima's apartment. Before she got out of sight, Lee heard a spoken thank you, and smiled at his younger sister...because that thank you meant so much more than she let on every time it was spoken.

The Wongs were without parents, unlike Salima, who lived with her Grandmother. They had died in a landslide that had destroyed their home. All of this took place in an ancient, little known village in China. Their parents had moved to Japan after Mariah turned twelve, and were visiting the occupants of the village, when heavy rains that had occurred the day before finally took their toll on the mountainside that the town was built near. Mariah had almost been crushed by a large tree that had been caught in the rubble that slid toward the homes of the villagers, but Lee had pushed her out of harms way, and they both hid behind the trunk of the tree that was in the center of the village, the landslide causing havoc around them, listening to the heavy breathing of the other sibling as they tried to protect themselves.

Though she had been only fourteen, and her dark haired brother only sixteen, Mariah was permitted to be cared for by Lee, as the elders believed that they would heal best in Japan, far away from the place where the incident happened. From then on, Lee didn't smile very much, so Mariah, in an effort to make her brother smile, did everything that she could to make him happy.

They were poor, and had some trouble collecting the money for their bills, so they conserved as much energy as they possibly could, and spent the money that Lee's job earned on only the necessities. Mariah has told Lee, time and again, that she could get a job, but the dark haired man would have none of it. He didn't want Mariah to grow up too fast...he wanted more for her than his own fate.

Mariah stopped in front of her red haired friend's apartment door, knocking twice. An elderly woman answered the door. Shina was sixty-two years old, and had a head of curly white hair, and large glasses framing her squinting eyes. "Oh, Mariah, Salima is in her room. Just head on up there." she said softly. The pink haired teen nodded and politely bowed to the woman, starting for the hallway.

She rapped her knuckles sharply on Salima's bedroom door, but received no response, so she shrugged and walked right in. The redhead was sitting on her bed, facing away from the pink haired girl, doing her homework. Mariah's feline-like eyes took on a glint as she used her unique stealth to quietly tiptoe behind her prey, before pouncing onto the bed beside the girl, causing her to yelp in startlement.

"Mariah!" Salima began, a reprimanding look finding its way onto her startled face, but then remembered the mash note that had been distracting them so much earlier, "Who was he? Was he handsome? He's not a nerd is he? Do you have a date?" Those questions were fired, along with many more, at the wide-eyed teen sitting next to her. Mariah then held up a hand, silencing her overexcited friend.

"I showed up, a half an hour late because of detention, and exchanged words with the most handsome man I have ever seen! He had crimson eyes that seemed to see right into my soul, and such soft looking grey and navy hair! I wanted so badly to touch it-"

"Wait a minute...the only person in the school with hair and eyes like that is..."Salima trailed off as she realized who, exactly, had been waiting at the flagpole."Hiwitari Kai!" she asked, dumfounded. Mariah merely nodded, a grin quickly making itself known on her lovely features. Salima put a hand to her mouth, "Oh my God, Mariah, do you know what this means? It means that you'll be dating the most popular Senior in school!"

Mariah pondered this notion for a moment before replying, "I suppose I'll have to get protection from his stalkers, then?" Salima stared, surprised at her nonchalant attitude about this all. "How can you be so calm? This is Hiwitari Kai that we're talking about! He is renowned throughout the school as the singularly most popular, handsome, and rich semi-Goth that the school has ever seen! He is a kickboxing expert, has the top grades in the school, and writes beautiful poetry! Why are you so calm!"

Mariah laughed at her best friend's outburst, her pink hair bouncing on her shoulders with the intensity of her laughter. "And now you're laughing!" Mariah wiped a tear from her eye, "Haha...Hiwitari Kai is just another guy, nothing different about him." The muddy-brown eyed girl raised one of her thin red eyebrows, "You're kidding, right? Nothing different about him, huh?"

Mariah started to nod her head, but had to stop, "Well, he was very polite towards me, and he never had to be told to pay more attention to my face than my breasts." Salima smirked, "So he isn't just interested in your body, that's different than most of the losers that slip letters into your locker. Go on, he has to have done more than not stare at your chest!"

"Lee tried to run him over after he held the door open for me." Mariah stated, amused by Salima's look. "Your brother didn't like him, then?" she asked, frowning slightly. The tangerine eyed grinned, "For once in his life, Lee didn't have too much of a problem with the man that I've chosen to date!" Salima looked shocked beyond all compare. Wong Lee was notorious for his distinct hate for anyone that dared to try to get close to his little sister. He has been known to carry a baseball bat throughout the apartment whenever one of the teens entered their home, and, when it isn't in his hands as he frightens the boys to the ends of their wits, it is placed behind the driver's seat in his truck.

Mariah's lion-like older brother will offer broken bones, torn off limbs, gouged out eyes, castration, and his own bloody knuckles to anyone who hurts his sister in any way shape or form. He could be a very violent person, and once forced a Junior, who had grabbed her inappropriately and suggested dirty things to her, to eat the dirt that he was walking on. Lee had physically held his face down into the dirt and made him eat it, in front of the entire school. Afterwards, he broke both of the boy's wrists, but the embarrassment made more of a mark. Broken bones heal, but degrading punishment stays with you your entire life.

When confronted by Mariah about making him eat the ground, Lee responded by saying, "Aside from far too bold hands, he had a filthy mouth. I was just helping him clean it." What he had done to offend Mariah had, apparently, offended Lee more. The most important thing in his life, he has stated openly before, is his younger sister, and no one was going to take her away from him that he didn't see as fit.

"Your older brother didn't have a problem with him! But Kai is such a badass, why would your brother trust someone like that, no matter how handsome or polite he is, to be with you!" Mariah shrugged, "I don't know. Maybe its because Lee used to be a badass, too."

"What?" said the confused owner of the white-walled bedroom. Mariah sighed, "Lee used to be more of a loner than he is now. He changed, becoming more kind and understanding, because he met a girl, Konoka, and they fell in love. After Mom and Dad died, Lee didn't really have any time to spend with Konoka, all while trying to be a big brother and, in a sense, a parent to me. So, they both agreed, reluctantly, that they should stop seeing each other. After that, Lee began to revert back to his old, stern self."

Salima's mood was dampened by this new information. She had never known why Lee had to be such a prick to most people, but now she knew that he thought that he was being a good big brother. "He doesn't have enough time to let a girl make him act his age now, does he?" Mariah shook her head, "No, not with how many hours he puts in at work. Besides, Konoka has moved on. Even when my brother asked if she wanted to try dating again, she said that she needed to date an actual nineteen year old, not one that thinks like they're an adult."

Salima frowned, "Wow, I didn't know that Lee had it so tough." Mariah nodded, and then looked around the room, lost in thought as she stared at the tiger, yin yang, and dragon posters that Salima had used to brighten up her room. "Hey, Mariah," the brown eyed girl started, trying to change the subject, but was interrupted by her best friend, "Don't worry about it, Lee will be just fine, and so will I! We've made it this far, right? I mean, I've finally attracted someone that Lee, even minorly, approves of!"

Salima couldn't help but smile at Mariah's grinning face, "Yeah, Mariah...Hell, its a miracle that you've found someone Lee approves of, however minorly it may be! If he had wanted to run him over, he would have, right?" Mariah laughed with her friend, and then glanced down at her wristwatch, "Sorry, Salima, I have to get home, Lee has to leave for his other job soon, and he wants me to stay inside the apartment with the door locked, and with a flashlight under a blanket on my bed!" she said jokingly.

"He got another job?" the redhead asked, sighing when Mariah nodded, "Yeah, he says that it'll be easier to pay the bills." Salima nodded, understandingly. Her grandmother got social security checks, but Salima worked the night shift at a fast food restaurant to keep the bills paid. "I have to leave soon, too. Do you think that he could give me a ride?" Mariah shrugged, "Probably, why? Do you want to get cozy with my brother?" she asked, wiggling her eyebrows up and down suggestively.

Salima laughed, "Well, you can't deny that your brother is handsome!" Mariah's face took on a disgusted look, "Ewwww! Yes, I can! I have a boyfriend now, which means that you can stop telling me how much you check out my older brother!" The other girl simply laughed at her best friend's reaction, and said, "All right, I'll try. Later, Mariah."

"See you, Salima." Mariah said with a smile, before heading out the door, stopping to bow and say thank you to Shina as well. She walked up the next flight of stairs until she reached apartment A9, and entered the door, taking off her shoes before walking any further into the apartment. "Hey, Lee?" she called out, trying to figure out where he was. Once she heard a noise from inside the kitchen, she knew that her brother was making a sandwich so that he wouldn't have to wait until after work.

She walked into her room, setting her messenger bag on her crimson futon, and looking around at the posters that Salima had given her to decorate her room with. Many were of tigers and wolves or dragons fighting to the death, while others were favorite band posters that Salima had found for the pink haired girl. The room was small, so she had little room for much more than a dresser for her clothes.

The younger Wong sibling walked into the kitchen to see her older brother eating his sandwich while sitting on the kitchen counter. He waved, not wanting to talk with his mouth full. "Salima wants to know if you'd be willing to drop her off at work, too, when you leave."

Lee swallowed his mouthful of peanut butter and jelly sandwich, "Yeah, what time does she get out?" Mariah thought for a moment, "Today is Thursday, so, about the same time you do." The dark grey haired man nodded, "Then I'll take her home, as well."

Mariah got another glint in her eye, one that her brother didn't like, "What's that look for, little sis?" the one whom he was speaking to shrugged casually, "Oh, I don't know...say, there wouldn't be anything going on between you and my best friend, would there?" Lee nearly choked on the next bite of his sandwich, "What the Hell gave you that idea!" he responded, blushing scarlet as his golden eyes took on a lighter hue.

"Well," Mariah began, "You seem to like having her around, and are a lot nicer to her than you are to most people." she said logically. Lee frowned at her, "She's your best friend, aren't I supposed to be nice to her?" he defended. Her orange eyes contained amusement as she began to walk away, "Your blush gave you away, big bro! No use denying it!"

"Hey, wait a damn minute!"

"Don't you have to get to work?" This question threw him off, and he looked down at his watch, ate the last bite of his sandwich, grabbed his jacket, and glared at his little sister before swallowing and saying, "We'll continue this later."

"Why bother when you've got a lady to escort to a restaurant? Hey, this kind of sounds like a date..." Mariah wondered out loud, causing her brother to blush again, "Oh, come on! She turns eighteen in four months, so you can't say that she's too young for you!"

"Remember to lock the door." Lee said, before exiting the apartment, ignoring Mariah's last statement. The pink haired girl grinned and said, "He must be in a particularly good mood today, or something." before heading toward the couch to watch a little cable before starting on the dishes.

Needless to say, Lee and Salima's trip to their works was more awkward than ever before...
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Yes, I know, this is not a very romantic chapter. I also apologize for the sad parts, but they explain what has led the characters to live like they do, and act how they do.

I also, doubly, apologize for my tardiness, but I could not access my data, as I got stuck visiting relatives in a different city for six weeks!

I hope that you enjoyed this chapter of "Doesn't Know She's Perfect", and will review and give me your thoughts!