MasterFranny: … do not hold this against me. Please, don't. I know it's been years since you've seen me around, but the fandom has quite died on me. But there again, all my current fandoms died on me.
I am actually taking back my BeyBlade fics and looking through what I've written already, so it's probable one of them will get some fresh work…
As for this one, please, GO BACK READ THE PREVIOUS TWO CHAPTERS. As I have rewritten them completely.
Also, this creation's plot idea is the same as before, meaning it might be a bit old and not in par with the YGO facts, but bear with me, and I hope you will like.
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Rating: T
Disclaimer: I do not own BeyBlade and Yu–Gi–Oh!. They belong to Aoki Takao and Kazuki Takahashi.
Pairings: Yuugi/Kai, Atem/Kahje, Yuriy/Ryou, Bakura/Tah'la, Marik/Seto/Malik, Seth/Karim
"Speech"
'Thoughts'
"Other Languages"
BitBeasts and Spirits
Dreams, flashbacks, memories, past
/From Hikari to Yami/
\\From Yami to Hikari\\
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Soul Mates
Chapter 02: Unexpected Meeting
Easily bored, the BladeBreakers had been quite unsettled by the long train ride, since it took them five hours to reach Domino, and Kai wanted nothing more than retire in his bedroom and rest a bit –five hours of Takao's uninterrupted speech grated on his nerves far too much.
They had to change train twice, waiting a hour in each station for the coincidence, and it was middle afternoon when they finally got to Domino, and another fifteen minutes to reach the hotel Daitenji had reserved rooms into.
"It's just… a normal town, isn't it" Takao and Max were looking around ever since they stepped out from the train, noticing how Domino had nothing new compared to all the other cities they had visited. At least, when they had travelled around the world, some things had varied, turning into an attractive of sorts for the two teens.
"Yeah, it's strange to think this is so famous around" Kijouji scratched the back of his head, wondering if BeyBlade around there was practiced just as much as in their own city. "Maybe something will happen that will have us rethink, but as for now, I stand by Takao's words…"
Rei smiled, stretching. It was true, Domino didn't look this cool, but there was the tournament, and that was the only important thing.
"Well boys, here, get your keys… I suggest you to spend the afternoon resting or looking around, and leave the training for tomorrow onwards" Daitenji handed Kai and Takao two keys. The teens would share as they were used to –Kai and Rei in one room, and the other three in the second one. "As for tomorrow's training, there is a nearby BeyBlade facility you can use".
Kai nodded, already planning the future training in his head; he would have to plan it out with Kijouji, but the basis were already forming in his mind.
With a last nod towards Daitenji, and a pointed look at Rei, Kai retired in the room. Rei smiled at his captain's antics, knowing he would come out soon enough to check on them. Although the neko–jin was responsible enough, not even he could keep both Takao and Max tamed for long.
As he had predicted, less than a hour later the door opened to the common room and Kai resurfaced.
Takao, Max and Kijouji were checking the participating teams through Kijouji's internet connection, curious about their skills, and Rei was sitting some feet to the left, content in listening his two teammates babble about the opponents.
"Guys, look!" something in Kijouji's tome attracted Rei's attention, and the Chinese teen stood up, joining the others on the floor.
Kai, who had reached the fridge of the room for a bottle of water, turned around only when he heard the hisses and the gasps of shock of his teammates, and only then did he move near as well.
"The… Demolition Boys are competing?!" Takao's eyes flashed with anger, and he gritted his teeth, the memories of the World Tournament far too clear in his mind to forget the pain the Russian team had caused them.
"What are they doing here?" Max's voice trembled, and even Rei was pale, his own battle against Boris still in his mind.
"Kai, what do you think? Why are they here? Is Vorkoff…" Takao turned around, expecting Kai to look at least surprised, but his voice died out as he noticed Kai's unconcerned and unsurprised face. "Kai?"
Kai shrugged. "They had mentioned something in their last letter, yes" he casually replied.
It took Takao a moment to understand the implications of Kai's words, but once he did, his face turned even paler than before.
"You still keep in contact with them?! After everything they did to you… to us?!"
He abruptly stood up, glaring at his captain. He could not believe that Kai was still talking to the ones that had tried to take over the world with BeyBlade, especially since Kai had been part of the plan for half the time!
The other BladeBreakers were equally shocked, staring unbelievingly at Kai; the slate haired teen stiffened, knowing he should have approached the matter in a different way. He had still kept contact with the Demolition Boys because after his memories had fully returned, he had remembered everything, and had found his connection to them once more.
They had been… not exactly friends, but they had been close, especially him and Yuriy, and a part of him still wanted that connection to exist. That was why he had exchanged mails with Yuriy, who had surprisingly enough accepted.
The Demolition Boys had never known another life, not until Vorkoff had been sent to jail, so it wasn't surprising they had acted the way they had. But the BladeBreakers could not know this.
In his own way, Kai had believed that if the two teams were to face each other in a neutral field, like another tournament, they could finally work out things between them. Kai considered the BladeBreakers a bit closer than when they first met, he could come to trust them, even though he would never admit that aloud.
They had given him another chance, and he wanted to offer the same to the Demolition Boys.
"Kai, explain yourself! How could you! After everything we went through…"
"I didn't know I had to report to you whomever I decide to speak to" Kai spat out, his voice cold and emotionless.
Takao stared at him in the eyes. "If that 'whomever' is someone who tried not just to kill us, but also to dominate the world, I'd say we have the rights to know! They are our enemies!"
Kai's eyes flared.
"They are not my enemies" he rebuffed. "And don't you dare think you know anything about me".
Takao was completely enraged. He often said things he didn't really think, and actually, most of the time whatever came out of his mouth wasn't thought out at all. That was why, after a moment of tense silence, he spat out something he would have never ever said, had he been calmer, or had he thought it twice.
"I always knew you'd betray us again, but I would have never thought you would do it twice with the Demolition Boys!"
Kai felt like Takao had just slapped him hard; that was the truth then… Takao and the others had never truly believed in him. They had never trusted him either… he was and would always be a traitor.
He had thought…
'I thought they had forgiven my acts…' he thought bitterly. Realising he had been wrong… hurt him more than anything else had before.
Takao shut his mouth the exact moment the words were out, his own brain wanting to slap him for them. He hadn't really thought anything of that, he didn't mean to…
Hadn't meant to…
He trusted Kai, he had always did. But…
"Kai… I…"
But it was too late to say anything –Kai twisted around, not wanting to show them the hurt in his eyes, and ran out of the room's door, slamming it behind his back.
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Yuugi sighed, rolling around in his bed again, unable to fall asleep.
In his mind there was still the clear image of the two Pendants, glowing and vibrating in echo with his Puzzle.
Also, the feeling that had washed all over him had felt overwhelming, and it looked like Yami had not felt it as he had; nostalgia, deep, rooted nostalgia, and something else, something even more buried, deep within him, pain, and something entirely different at the same time.
What had been that feeling? And why just him?
'Yes, that strengthens the hypothesis that mou hitori no boku and I are two parts of the same soul, but it's so hard to accept… I am so different than him… and yet, maybe there is a part of the powers that can only be felt or used by the light side…? I don't understand…'
The more he thought about it the less it made sense.
\\Aibou? You can't sleep?\\ Yami appeared at his side, incorporeal but still very much visible, and stared at him in concern. \\What is the problem?\\
/Nothing, really/ Yuugi wasn't sure he wanted to share everything with his other self yet. It was too confusing. /It's just that… I can't but think about the Sennen Pendants… I don't like to wait until things slam against me. I've had that far too many times to be comfortable with it!/
Yami laughed softly. \\In that, Aibou, we are very similar. But I think we have nothing else to rely on other than be patient\\.
Yuugi pouted, curling into his bed.
\\Do you want us to go back to the museum, Aibou?\\ Yami stretched even though he had no body. \\We'll keep away from the Pendants, but maybe looking at the tablets might help us calm down\\.
Somehow, Yami had felt the sight of the Pendants had hit Yuugi more than it appeared, and he didn't want to press the matter too much, waiting for his other self to spill it to him when he was ready, but at the same time, he was offering him a way out.
Yuugi thought it out for a moment. They would have to use the power of their Puzzle to get into the Museum, something he didn't like, but he really wanted to sort out his feelings… maybe, just maybe, he would be able to stop the nostalgia if he observed the Pendants with rational mind…
/Ok!/ he said, jumping down the bed and starting to dress again. /Let's go!/
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Kai stared at his BeyBlade as Dranzer spun in front of him, the only noise the slight whirring sound of the attack ring moving against the stones under his feet; the mere sound of the spinning BeyBlade had often helped Kai calm down, relaxing his muscles and allowing him to think clearer, and this time was no exception.
Most of his thoughts centred on what had happened in the hotel room, even though part of him knew he shouldn't have been this angry at all –he could understand maybe too well Takao's actions and his words, since he had not given the BladeBreakers any indication he could be trustworthy.
They had tried to trust him completely, but they had failed miserably, because he had never given them anything to grasp onto.
But even as he thought that, he couldn't but feel hurt about that. A part of him had kept hoping, possibly, that they could be friends.
The slate haired blader scoffed at the night; his reaction was also maybe a bit too exaggerated, but he didn't feel like saying he was wrong either. He needed to vent off for a bit, and calm down. No point in going back to the hotel yet.
Daitenji's words came back to him as he remembered there should have been a training faculty somewhere nearby, and he decided that if he should be stuck away from the hotel room, he might as well pull an all–night and go train.
Satisfied with this prospective, he allowed his shoulders to relax.
Calling his BeyBlade back into his hand with a silent movement, Kai launched it back down again, and started walking further away from the hotel, his bey following him, jumping up and down from the sidewalk and rounding over the obstacles.
The darkness was covering him like a blanket, but he had long since learned not to feel fear –that fact had been engraved into his spirit ever since his childhood. Besides, nothing could be scarier than a punishment for showing petty fears.
He was so deep into his thoughts, lulled by the sound of his bey spinning, that he didn't even hear someone coming his way from behind the corner ahead.
Inevitably, they collided.
Kai was thrown backwards and fell down on the floor, hissing in shock, and a second later he was showered with cards, as the other figure fell down as well; it took Kai a moment to realise what had happened.
"Ah! Gomenasai! I wasn't looking and… oh, I'm so sorry! Are you ok?" the boy (because it was a boy, if only a bit short) stood up in a flash and held out his hand towards Kai.
The blader ignored the offered hand and stood up as well, grunting. "No, it was my fault, too" he replied, looking around him. "I wasn't looking either".
The boy had by then kneeled down and was gathering together the cards that had fell everywhere; Kai's sharp eyes noticed that the boy was handling them with massive care, not at all dissimilar to his own way to handle Dranzer.
He stared at the boy for a second more, taking in his strange appearance, the tri–coloured hair, and the fact that he was dressed with what appeared to be like… leather and spikes…? At the light of the nearby lamppost, the other boy looked strangely eerie.
Following a momentarily impulse, Kai kneeled down and started helping the kid. As he got together the remaining cards, Kai folded them in his hands, and watched the first on top with curious eyes.
He had not been wrong, those were actually Duel Monsters cards.
His red eyes stared at the yellow–background card, taking in the small picture on the top half of it, a human figure dressed in ample purple–blue robes, holding a green staff of some kind. Above the picture there were seven little stars, and then the card's name –Dark Magician.
Kai frowned, unable to place the sudden feeling that had washed over him. He couldn't recognize it, but it was gone as fast as it came, leaving him confused.
Without speaking, he held out the cards for the other boy to take. The tri–colour haired boy smiled in gratitude. "Thanks… and sorry again, I truly didn't see you there".
Yuugi pulled his deck together, his eyes scanning all the cards to check if any of them had been bruised, but thankfully they were all ok; so, he looked up smiling and took a moment to examine the person he had before him.
It was taller than him (but there again, almost everyone was taller than him nowadays), with two–toned hair, darker blue on the back, and lighter on the front, and had two strangely shaped triangles on both cheeks.
What a weird person… and yet, something in that teen unsettled Yuugi. It had nothing to do with evilness, because Yuugi couldn't sense any coming from him… but still, something was unclear.
He and Yami had been returning from the Museum, and despite Yami protesting, Yuugi had relinquished control of the body and forced his yami to stay in his own soul room, where the pharaoh was probably musing over the recent happenings.
And there he was, having met with this strange person… he wondered why he was out this late.
"No, I just said it was also my fault," Kai shook his head, shrugging.
Yuugi moved forwards, holding out his hand for the other to shake, when–
KRACK!
There was a loud noise, and both Kai and Yuugi looked down, horrified when they noticed Kai's BeyBlade there, the attack ring cleanly broken in two.
Kai had known since his last training that the attack ring he was using was old and worn out due to its constant use, but he hadn't planned to fight with his teammates and wander around alone at night, so he didn't even think about taking with him the spare parts.
Besides, seeing his BeyBlade broken on the ground was still a shock, no matter what.
"Dranzer–" he hissed, crouching to gather the broken bey in his hands.
Yuugi turned scarlet for the shame, panicking as he kneeled next to the other boy, whom he now recognized as a blader.
"Oh my God, I am so sorry!" he stared at Kai's face then at his poor BeyBlade, not knowing what to do. Then, suddenly he was struck by inspiration. "Ah, listen! Come with me, my grandfather can repair it! I swear!"
Something passed through Kai's eyes and Yuugi felt even worse –something was telling him that this teen valued his BeyBlade just as much as he and Yami valued their cards. He was sure he'd be broken as well, if someone were to rip his cards…
Actually, he just knew how that felt –his Exodia cards had been thrown into the sea once…
Determined in attracting the slate haired teen's attention, Yuugi grabbed one of the other's hands, staring deeply in the ruby eyes as Kai's head turned his way.
"I swear! I will do anything to repair your BeyBlade… come with me, I'll have gramps do it so fast you won't complain, Duellist's word!"
Kai blinked at the strange boy's behaviour towards him. Anyone else, in the same situation, would have been at least mildly afraid –Kai surely didn't pass as an innocent bystander, by his appearance alone– but this guy wasn't just trying to… comfort him, he was actually true about it…
"Listen…" Kai spoke but stopped, not knowing the other's name.
"Yuugi" the boy provided.
"Listen, Yuugi," Kai repeated. "It's no big stuff. The attack ring was already worn out, I should have repaired it sooner. You don't have to try so hard–"
"No!" Yuugi interrupted the other's speech, his grip on Kai's hand tightening without him realising it. "It doesn't take a genius to see you care for your bey! And I broke it, so the least I can do is make sure it's repaired, no matter what".
Kai rolled inwardly his eyes. He could have gone back to the hotel and have Kijouji repair it in five minutes, but he had no intentions of going back yet. The hurt was still present, if only dulled out by the surprise of the encounter.
"Err… Yuugi, it's past midnight" Kai tried to reason with the boy. "Surely you wouldn't want to… wake up your grandfather just so he can repair my BeyBlade…"
Yuugi flushed dark again. He had completely forgot the time.
"Well then" he stated, eyes taking on a determined hue "I am sure that if I let you go now, you will never accept to come back tomorrow" Kai fought the urge to shake his head in amusement, knowing the boy was right. "So, how about you come with me? I will unroll another futon and you can sleep in my room, and first thing tomorrow morning, I get gramps to look at your bey. Is that alright with you?"
Kai was taken aback by the proposal. He was actually asking Kai to sleepover?
Looking into Yuugi's eyes, Kai had the feeling he was truly sorry about the incident, and that he was also truthful with his desire to help. Normally, Kai would have still refused, but with the current problems he was facing with the rest of the BladeBreakers, something in him pressed him into accepting.
He must have been out of his mind, his reasoning supplied him.
"Ok, it's settled then!" Yuugi must have seen some kind of resign in Kai's eyes, because without waiting for a proper answer, grabbed Kai's wrist and smiled brightly, motioning for the taller teen to follow.
"Ah, right, I didn't tell you my name!" Yuugi's smile twitched higher. "I'm Mutou Yuugi, pleased to meet you!"
Kai frowned, the name was quite familiar. Then, he froze, remembering where he had heard it before. "You're the Duel Monsters' champion!"
Yuugi nodded, laughing hesitantly and blushing a bit, uncomfortable with the notion of his fame. "Yeah, that would be me".
Kai blinked. He hadn't expected the winner to be this guy, especially since he looked younger than he was. The champion was just his age, sixteen, and yet Yuugi didn't look older than twelve…
"Then you must be here to compete in the BeyBlade tournament, right?"
Kai nodded. "My name is Hiwatari Kai" he stated, staring down at the other teen.
"Ooh, but I know who you are!" Yuugi widened his eyes in surprise. He wasn't that great with the spinning tops, but he had read about the tournaments, and he definitely remembered the name of the champion team. "You're in the BladeBreakers' team! You're the captain!"
"I didn't expect anyone to know about BeyBlade here, I was told this city specialises in Duel Monsters" Kai admitted, a bit surprised.
"My grandfather owns a game shop, we also sell hobby and similar, so we have BeyBlade too… that's why I assured I can repair your bey!"
Yuugi was beaming, and somehow his joyous attitude made Kai relax a bit further. Actually, that attitude could have reminded him of Takao, but right then any comparison between the two was the farthest thing in Kai's mind. They were completely different, and whilst staying around Takao always bugged the hell out of him, Yuugi did the opposite.
For some minutes the two kept walking in silence, but after a while Yuugi couldn't restrain his curiosity anymore, so he turned around.
"Kai, what were you doing around at this time of the night?"
The moment the words were out of his mouth, he bit back a groan. How stupid. He had been wandering around as well, and it wasn't polite to ask such questions, especially given the fact that they had just met.
"I could ask you the same question" Kai wasn't really paying attention, deep in thought as Yuugi's words had brought in a wave of fresh pain and confusion related to the actual reason he was momentarily homeless. "I had a fight with my teammates" he added after a moment, almost unconsciously.
Yuugi blinked, confused.
He had read that the BladeBreakers' captain was cold, uncaring and mean, but now that he had met him, he could see the gossips had it completely wrong; Kai had acted politely all the time, and whilst he did feel a bit aloof, he didn't seem cold or mean at all.
'But that's how it always is, when it comes to gossips and fame… never believe until you've seen it personally' he thought, one of the early lessons of his grandfather.
Kai felt partly compelled to keep the conversation ongoing –probably because this guy had offered him a place to sleep– cleared his throat. "And what are you doing here at this time of the night?"
Yuugi bit his lip, but he knew that he had to reply. Kai had been sincere (his eyes had sparkled with some sort of hurt when he had spoke about the fight) so he had to be as well. "I went to the Museum… I had to make sure of something I couldn't stop thinking since this morning".
Kai lifted his eyebrows but didn't reply; this wasn't his own business, and since Yuugi hadn't butted in about the fight, he wouldn't butt in about this. Even though the museum at this time should have been shut close.
"This is my house!" Yuugi pointed to a small building, a shop with the sign 'Kame Shop' above the entrance. "My mother is not home right now, but grandfather is. We'll ask him tomorrow, ok?"
The two moved quietly, with Kai looking around at the house with the lightest curiosity, and Yuugi rolled down a spare futon between his own bed and the desk.
After having thanked him for his hospitality, Kai shifted inside the futon, clutching his broken bey next to his heart. The deep breathing of Yuugi in the bed next to him was almost soothing, and before he knew it, Kai had also slipped in a deep sleep, the last conscious thought about how he had never ever slept at someone else's home before.